Anti-immigrant, far-right Take Action Tour event at Salem bar leads to clash with protesters

A clash between protesters and participants at a pit stop for an anti-immigrant rally rocked a Salem bar over the weekend.

The Saturday event at Honky Tonk, touted on social media aspart of a national Take Action Tour, was centered around what the organizers of Take Back America describe as a “crisis in America” — immigration and terrorism.

A flyer listed Salem as a quick stop on the Take Action Tour that included speaker Christie Hutcherson, founder of Women Fighting for America, and John Guandolo, who worked previously with the FBI. The organization's website calls for action against "communist" efforts related to masking children, forced vaccines, open borders and defunding police, as well as support for the "America First Party," which promotes severely restricting legal immigration, making English the official language of the United States and repealing all federal and state gun legislation.

A quote from Hutcherson on the event's flyer read: “We will not sit by while those that seek to fundamentally transform America into a socialist communist society demean and destroy our traditional family values.”

At the same time, the bar had publicized a family-friendly "Hero Appreciation Day" that was to include free food, live music and bouncy houses. Hutcherson was listed as a guest speaker for this event on the flyer.

When protesters began to show up and yelling was heard, it surprised those who were there for some family fun. One of those people was Jacqueline Smith, owner of KSLM 104.3, who was a sponsor for the Hero's Appreciation Day hosted by Willamette Valley real estate agent Rebecca Donaldson.

Smith described hearing a lot of yelling and seeing end white supremacy posters being held by the protesters. She assisted others in leading children away from the escalating violence.

“It was absolutely shocking, in all honesty. There were children there,” said Smith.“It was family-friendly. They had the dunk tank. They had free hot dogs and snow cones. The idea was that it was an event where children were welcome.”

According to the Take Action Tour's event description on Eventbrite, the tour was centered around discussions on protecting America’s borders. The tour had three stops in Oregon: Bend on July 15, and both Salem and Clackamas on Saturday.

Other speakers involved who appeared virtually included Michael Flynn, former U.S. national security advisor, and Arizona Republican state Rep. Mark Finchem, who is running for Arizona Secretary of State and is known for promoting false claims about the 2020 presidential election.

Diana Gorsh, the owner of Honky Tonk, said the Hero's Appreciation Day was the only event scheduled.

Gorsh said the speakers were on stage for about five minutes and invited people to the event in Clackamas that evening.

A video posted on Twitter shows the event became violent as protesters began showing up. The video shows an individual wearing a biker vest kicking one of the protesters, with shouting in the background.

At one point, Guandolo was speaking and praised the people present for attacking the protesters. According to one Twitter user, he said the protestors were “CCP (Chinese Communist Party) funded, who collab with jihadists.”

An Oregon National Guard recruitment booth and booths for other local businesses were among those present at the two overlapping events. According to Maj. Chris Clyne, the guard was asked to attend along with another organization that was fundraising for homes for veterans.

“They (recruiters) did witness some confrontation,” Clyne said. “Once they witnessed that, they packed up and left.”

Gorsh said it was "saddening" because the day was supposed to be for honoring veterans, and instead it turned into a political fight. Gorsh was adamant the restaurant was not involved in any event about a "border crisis."

Take Back America did not respond to a request for comment.

Dejania Oliver is the breaking news reporter for the Statesman Journal. Contact her at DAOliver@salem.gannett.com or follow on Twitter @DejaniaO.

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Anti-immigrant, far-right event at Salem bar leads to clash with protesters