Protesters also took the opportunity to decry Gov. Kate Brown’s COVID-19 emergency orders.
The police department later Tweeted that no force was needed to separate the groups. Oregon State Police said that David Willis, 43, of Lincoln City, was arrested for harassment and disorderly conduct.
Many protesters held America, Gadsden and Trump flags, and some openly carried firearms. They chanted, “Freedom!” and hurled insults at Brown, calling her a tyrant. One man standing at the Capitol Mall with a speaker said it was “1776 all over again.”
“This is America,” the man called out to cheers of support from fellow protesters. “Communism will never, never be America.”
No official activity was scheduled inside the Oregon Capitol on Wednesday. Oregon electors had already cast the state’s seven electoral votes for Biden and Harris on Dec. 8 during an in-person ceremony that was streamed live.
The Oregon Capitol has been closed to the public since March 18, after the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
Police sealed off the building Wednesday after Capitol authorities, anticipating problems, decided Tuesday night to close the building to the few workers who remain. Metal shutters covered the glass doors at the east and west entrances. They already were in place on the iconic revolving doors at the north entrance. About two dozen troopers were stationed at the south entrance, which faces Willamette University.
Wednesday’s protest was not the first instance of potential trouble at the Capitol, which was built in 1938.
Anti-lockdown, pro-Trump supporters briefly occupied a vestibule on the northwest side of the building on Dec. 21, when state lawmakers met for a one-day special session. They were ejected, and police rebuffed their second attempt to force their way through the west entrance, although they broke windows on the doors. Five men were arrested, and Oregon State Police are seeking the identity of another man caught on camera.
Concrete barriers were placed in front of the Capitol on New Year’s Eve. Salem Police arrested three people during New Year’s Day protests, which extended to downtown and the governor’s official residence at Mahonia Hall.
The Oregon Legislature is scheduled to start its 2021 session on Monday, with the swearing-in of all 60 representatives and 16 of the 30 senators, and the election of the House speaker and Senate president. The organizational session is expected to last a day. Lawmakers get down to business Jan. 19, when the clock starts on the 160-day session.
