Officials in Portland, Ore., are worried the far-right rally planned for this weekend could turn into “another Charlottesville.”
Fears of violent protests in the area are rising ahead of the rally scheduled on Saturday by Patriot Prayer, a conservative group founded by far-right Senate candidate Joey Gibson.
In a “Hate Watch” report, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) warned “threats of violence” are looming over the upcoming rally, which it suggested could be “another Charlottesville,” referring to the Virginia march that left a counterprotester dead.
The report comes days after Gibson said in a Facebook post last week that the “Freedom March” would be held at a location that could allow attendees to carry handguns. Portland prohibits weapons in parks, but guns carried by those with a valid Oregon concealed handgun license are allowed, according to The Oregonian.
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The rally comes about a month after members of the conservative group and self-described anti-fascist counterprotesters clashed in Portland in what police described as a riot.
The Patriot Prayer group reportedly had a permit for their rally, but police revoked the permit after the riot began.
A number of groups have reportedly indicated that they plan to counterprotest the Patriot Prayer rally this Saturday and evoked Charlottesville.
One group, Rose City Antifa, said: “We will continue to stand by our policy of no-platforming to prevent fascist and white supremacist from organizing in our community.”