WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2020
HermistonHerald.com

EasternOregonMarketplace.com
TAKING TO THE STREETS
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
Rallygoers fi lled Festival Street in downtown Hermiston during the
“Hermiston Freedom Rally” on Saturday, May 30, 2020. The rally drew in
excess of 100 people and sparked a counter protest elsewhere in town.
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
Protesters hold signs in protest of racism and police violence on the corner of Highway 395 and Elm Avenue in
Hermiston on Monday, June 1, 2020. The gathering took place at noon and spread along the sidewalks around
the intersection.
Protests over George Floyd’s death
spread to Hermiston and Pendleton
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
Event organizer Colin Hodges speaks during the “Hermiston Freedom
Rally” in downtown Hermiston on Saturday, May 30, 2020. Hodges said it
was not a protest, just an informational event about Constitutional rights.
By JADE MCDOWELL
AND ANTONIO SIERRA
STAFF WRITERS
Hermiston Freedom Rally
draws crowd downtown
P
rotests against racism and
police violence spread to
Hermiston and Pendle-
ton on Monday, June 1,
as people gathered peace-
fully in both cities.
Hermiston’s protest
kicked off at noon on the
corner of Highway 395 and Elm
Avenue. By 12:30 p.m. there were
roughly 60 protesters standing on
the sidewalks along all four corners
of the intersection. Almost all wore
masks, and they held signs with
messages, such as “Black Lives
Matter,” “No Justice, No Peace”
and “All lives don’t matter until
black lives matter.”
Some protest signs referenced
George Floyd, the black man who
died in Minneapolis in police cus-
tody on Memorial Day. Cellphone
footage from bystanders shows
offi cer Derek Chauvin kneeling on
Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 45
seconds while Floyd repeatedly said
he couldn’t breathe before passing
out about six minutes in. Chauvin
was charged with third-degree mur-
der and manslaughter after protests
were staged in Minneapolis.
Jose Rodriguez was the fi rst to
arrive at Hermiston’s protest, wear-
ing a handmade “I can’t breathe”
T-shirt. As he paced up and down
the sidewalk, fi st in the air, several
passersby raised a fi st in return.
“I think this town needs to know
it’s not right,” Rodriguez said in
reference to Floyd’s death. “It’s
important to make people feel
uncomfortable.”
Inle Gonzaels, who organized
the protest, said she wanted to make
sure that people saw Hermiston res-
idents join in with the nationwide
protests.
“Even though the black commu-
nity in Hermiston and Eastern Ore-
gon is small, that doesn’t mean any-
thing,” she said. “People should see
we’re an ally.”
Naxely Jaime of Hermiston held
a sign saying, “If you’re not out-
raged, you’re not paying attention.”
She said people in Hermiston seem
to view race as a taboo subject, but
she wanted to make people under-
INSIDE
By ALEX CASTLE
STAFF WRITER
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
Protesters hold signs in protest of racism and police violence on the
corner of Highway 395 and Elm Avenue in Hermiston on Monday, June
1, 2020. About 60 people were present at the peak of the protest, which
lasted for more than six hours.
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
Protesters hold signs in protest of racism and police violence on the
corner of Highway 395 and Elm Avenue in Hermiston on Monday, June 1,
2020. The protest quickly fi lled all four corners of the intersection.
stand that “we’re not going to be
quiet about it.”
Avery Szulewski also said the
community “doesn’t like to talk
about” racism.
“I myself, I have white privilege,
and I need to use my power to bring
light to that,” she said.
The protesters drew mixed reac-
tions from passersby on what the
Oregon Department of Transpor-
tation has reported is Eastern Ore-
gon’s busiest intersection. Many
motorists honked and waved or
raised their fi sts in apparent sol-
A3  Strong winds take
down trees and power lines
around Hermiston
idarity. One woman came out of
McDonald’s with a bag of food for
the protesters.
Others were less supportive.
Their reactions included making
obscene gestures, veering close to
the protesters as their trucks released
a cloud of black smoke, and yelling.
One woman repeatedly shouted at
the protesters while waiting in line
in at the McDonald’s drive-thru, at
one point yelling, “You guys aren’t
old enough to know (expletive).” At
See George Floyd, Page A10
A3  Hermiston seniors
refl ect on unique graduation
experience
M
ore than 100 people came
out to the festival street
in downtown Hermiston
on Saturday, May 30, in
defi ance of COVID-19
guidelines against large gather-
ings for the “Hermiston Freedom
Rally,” subsequently sparking a
protest in opposition elsewhere in
the city.
The rally was billed by orga-
nizers as a peaceful and apoliti-
cal “information sharing event”
that would feature about a dozen
speakers from across the state.
Though organizers said they felt
the event could have provided
more detailed information for
its audience, the rally remained
peaceful despite concerns over
potential confl ict.
“It could have been better. I
didn’t know exactly what every
person was going to talk about,”
said Colin Hodges, the event’s
primary organizer. “I just thought,
let’s bring in as many different
people as possible from different
positions in different communities
and let them speak and see what
happens.”
Community members and law
enforcement expressed specifi c
concerns about the appearance of
Joey Gibson, who spoke fi rst and
is the founder of the far-right Van-
couver, Washington-based group
Patriot Prayer, but Hodges said
he felt the event ultimately wasn’t
defi ned by Gibson’s presence.
“As you can see it wasn’t all
about Joey Gibson, and Joey’s a
great guy,” Hodges said. “He’s a
great, peaceful guy. He has a bad
rap for some things, but that’s
because the media spins things
and portrays people certain ways.”
Reports have detailed Gibson
A7  La Laguna brings
Mexican-Japanese fusion
to Hermiston
Photo contributed by Jaztography
Brenda Flores holds up a banner
while participating in the Essential
not Sacrifi cial event held in
counter protest to the Hermiston
Freedom Rally on May 30.
Photo contributed by Jaztography
Nazario Rivera holds a sign as part of
the Essential Not Sacrifi cial protest
held in counter to the Hermiston
Freedom Rally on May 30.
and Patriot Prayer’s history of
violent clashes with leftist protest-
ers, particularly in Portland, and
previously associated themselves
See Freedom, Page A10
A8  Election offi cials
dispute accounts of voter
registration changes