Supporters of President Donald Trump gathered in the Willamette Valley on September 7, 2020, caravanning down highways around the Portland area in support of the president and police, and in opposition to protests in Portland. Photo by Allison Dinner / AFP
OREGON CITY 鈥斅燞undreds of President Donald Trump鈥檚 supporters staged a motorcade Monday near the protest-hit US city of Portland, where demonstrators, police and right-wing groups have clashed in months of anti-racism demonstrations.
Groups of armed men in paramilitary gear were among the crowd that included families and older people before some 300 vehicles drove through Oregon City, a Portland suburb.
Oregon鈥檚 largest city has seen over 100 days of protest including one stand-off late last month, in which a far-right activist was shot dead and the man suspected in the killing was later fatally shot as police moved in to arrest him.
Organizers of the 鈥淥regon For Trump 2020鈥� motorcade, held on the US public holiday of Labor Day, said they would not try to enter the city itself in order to 鈥渒eep it safe.鈥�
President Donald Trump鈥櫬抯 supporters hold a rally and caravan in Oregon City, Oregon on September 7, 2020. Photo by Allison Dinner / AFP
The parade was decked out with US flags, Trump banners and the occasional sign that read, 鈥淜eep America first.鈥�
Carol Williams, a retiree volunteering for the Republican Party to register people to vote, said that after months of street protests 鈥渄owntown Portland looks like a Third World country with all of the graffiti and the burning and the looting and all that and that鈥檚 happening in cities all across the United States.鈥�
鈥淲e are peaceful. We don鈥檛 go looking for retribution,鈥� she added.
The nightly protests were sparked by the death of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis in May.
Floyd鈥檚 death triggered similar protests nationwide, but it is in Portland 鈥� a city of 650,000 that is more than 70 percent white 鈥� that activists have remained on the streets practically every night, demanding racial justice and police accountability.
President Donald Trump has cast the city as being under siege by 鈥渢hugs鈥� engaged in 鈥渄omestic terrorism,鈥� though the demonstrations have been peaceful for the most part.
Art White, a Vietnam veteran from Portland said he came to support his president, adding he felt he needed to stand up for his country.
鈥淚t makes me sad that I have to fight in my own country,鈥� he added.