The Multnomah County Republican Party (MCRP) has formally decided to pair up with right-wing militia groups to run security at local events.
The formal resolution was passed on on Monday and its text was leaked to the Mercury Friday morning. MCRP Chairman James Buchal, despite being displeased with the leak, confirmed his group approved pairing up with the Oregon Three Percenters and Oath Keepers via a resolution earlier this week:
Proposed Resolution of Chairman Buchal: Resolve that the MCRP may utilize volunteers from the Oregon Three Percenters, Oath Keepers, and other security groups. To provide security where such volunteers are certified to provide private security service by the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training. Kay Bridges moved and Janice Dysinger seconded. Resolution passed.
Update: We got ahold of the meeting minutes from Monday night MCRP meeting at the Shiloh Inn. Here’s the relevant section:
The Guardian reported late last month—in the wake of the MAX hate crime stabbings and ahead of a June 4 alt-right rally downtown—that the MCRP was considering allowing the militia groups to run security for right-wing events. It’s now official.
Such arrangements have already caused uproar. At the June 4 rally, a militia member was spotted helping a federal cop detain and arrest a protester. The Department of Justice announced it would investigate the incident.
Militia groups have also previously volunteered as security at pro-Donald Trump rallies in Lake Oswego in March and at Patriot Prayer’s Vancouver, WA, rally in April. Patriot Prayer is hosting a rally in downtown Portland Friday evening.
“The volunteers are afraid of going to Portland street fairs and Portland events because of what happened to them,” Buchal tells the Mercury, specifically citing the anonymous email threat regarding the MCRP marching in the 82nd Avenue of the Roses Parade that led to the parade’s cancellation. “Our only recourse is volunteers because we got no money. This volunteer resource is available.”
Using these volunteer militia groups is necessary, Buchal said, because of “unhinged people screaming at (Republicans), in one case shoving them and in another case spitting on them. They don’t feel like it’s safe environment out there.”
The resolution calls for the militia members to be certified by the state to run private security. Buchal said he didn’t know if the Republicans will ask each militia member to prove their certification before working security, as the kinks haven’t been worked out yet.
“I don’t understand how it’s a whole hell of a lot different than rich people hiring private security guards,” explained Buchal about the volunteer militias. “I don’t understand why it’s so different.”
The Oath Keepers are described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as “one of the largest radical antigovernment groups in the US”, recruiting current and former military and law enforcement personnel. They have recently appeared at rallies from Berkeley, California, to Boston, standing with activists from the far right, activists holding what were once fringe positions who have recently risen to national prominence.
The Three Percenters are described by Political Research Associates as “a paramilitary group that pledges armed resistance against attempts to restrict private gun ownership”. They were a highly visible presence in Burns, Oregon, before and during the occupation of the Malheur wildlife refuge by rightwing militia early in 2016.
“One of the things we did before going down this road is research these groups,” Buchal tells the Mercury on Friday. “Because of all this gross disinformation in the media that they’re racist, white supremacists, Nazis and so forth — I was very pleased to find their bylaws and internal procedures say that nobody’s going to tolerate racism and that kind of stuff. That’s not what it’s about. They are concerned that with the government overstepping its constitutional bounds.”
This post has been updated with more quotes from James Buchal and more information on the militias.
For the latest in information about rallies, marches, and political events, consult the Mercury‘s RESISTANCE & SOLIDARITY calendar. Want to publicize an event? Send the info to calendar@portlandmercury.com.
So they have quit even pretending to be sane.
Pile this on top of the recent NRA ad that is essentially a call-to-arms for a 21st Century civil war in America, and we’re looking at a group of insane gun nuts being primed to unleash a good deal of chaos, death, and injury on the general population. This needs to be stopped ASAP. These assholes are a significant threat to everyone.
So the MCGOP says it has “no money” to hire legitimate private security contractors and wants to use a bunch of guys who like to cosplay with guns and ammo. OK, great. But aren’t they worried about what could happen if one of these “ammosexuals” gets a bit hot under the collar and wounds or kills someone while providing security? Aren’t they worried about liability?
“The volunteers are afraid of going to Portland street fairs and Portland events because of what happened to them,”
‘What happened to them’ being that some of the Oath Keeper’s friends in Patriot Prayer sent an anonymous letter to threaten themselves to claim victim-hood, misunderstanding that Antifa would never deign to send a missive to public entities, since, you know, they don’t beleive public institutions are legitimate.
So is this douchbags hiring assholes or assholes hiring douchbags?
This is going to end badly for the GOP. When you allow crazy people to handle security and allow them to interact with radicals on the otherside someone is going to be seriously hurt or killed. Then the GOP will be held responsible for the entire mess.
[“I don’t understand how it’s a whole hell of a lot different than rich people hiring private security guards,” explained Buchal about the volunteer militias. “I don’t understand why it’s so different.”]
It’s “different” because there are laws that apply to private security firms: staff background checks for certain kinds of convictions, liability insurance requirements, and so on:
http://www.oregon.gov/DPSST/PS/Pages/ind…
as Buchal should well know.
Hello everyone. I’m Athena Brown
Annnnnnnnd that’s what happens when you accidentally hit enter, and it doesn’t let you go back and edit your comments.
Anyway, I’m House District Captain for HD 45 of the Republican Party. If anyone wants to continue this discussion, please do feel free to email me at athena.k.brown@gmail.com. I wanted to help answer some concerns.
First, we have been getting threatened with violence on a routine and ongoing basis by Antifa. Many of you may recall that the rose parade was canceled in May due to threats emailed to the organizers. We often have elderly members, and minors attend our events and rallies, and we want everyone to remain safe. If Antifa threatens us again, or decides to smash and destroy personal property, the idea is that having our security nearby will deter acts of violence against us. That’s all we intend from having private security.
We have absolutely no intention on bringing harm to anyone. Again, our only concern is protection *FROM* violence. Not to cause violence.
I would like to go ahead and answer a few concerns already posted.
>> So the MCGOP says it has “no money” to hire legitimate private security contractors
^^^ This is not accurate. We have money. We do not want to spend a fortune on a massive private security firm. We’d prefer having local members of our community become state certified and help protect and work with the people they personally know.
>> OK, great. But aren’t they worried about what could happen if one of these “ammosexuals” gets a bit hot under the collar
^^^ The exact same thing could be said about any police officer. This is why we’re insisting on state certification, which means training in how to act as security.
>> It’s “different” because there are laws that apply to private security firms: staff background checks for certain kinds of convictions, liability insurance requirements, and so on
^^^ It’s my understanding that this is part of the process for becoming state certified. This is a highly organized effort that we’re engaging in.
If we have no need for security, then our security will just stand around and do nothing, and not harm anyone. We’ve been inviting the 3%ers and Oath Keepers to events for a while. They’ve never once stopped the other side from coming over and talking to us, expressing their views, or engaging in civil discussion.
Thank you for engaging Ms. Brown. Are you aware the pres of Oath Keepers, Rhoads, was disbarred, and allegedly uses the membership dues as a personal piggy bank? More often than not, the wannabe cops have a less than honorable background.
Why do they quote a democratic fund raising outfit like the Souther Poverty Law Center to define anyone? Do they really think it’s an impartial assessment?
How is this a surprise? When the Left courts and treats as a leader one such as Greg McKelvey who feels it’s not his job as activist leader to “…censor anyone else’s activism” this is the natural drift. If you didn’t see this coming by early December 2016, you weren’t paying attention in early November 2016 and you still aren’t. The Right is figuring out the game by talking of peace while courting and providing space for violence. Fuck both of your houses.