Protesters plan rally to counter Trump message

Eugene, Donald Trump.

Donald Trump, Eugene.

The center of the ultraliberal universe meets the blustery billionaire businessman turned reality television celebrity turned presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

Some protesters and supporters have clashed at other Trump rallies across the country. But here? In mellow Eugene, where tie-dye is often the unofficial uniform of the day? Surely everything will be fine, right?

Maybe, but protesters are likely to be outside the Lane Events Center, if not inside, before Friday’s 7 p.m. Trump appearance.

Mariana Sofía Paredones, 20, is a Lane Community College student from Mexico who is active in student government. Earlier this week, she started a Facebook page called “Drumpf in Eugene: Non-Violent Counter-Protest,” with the hashtag #DumpTrump.

“Calling on all anti-Trump advocates, people against hatred, racism and xenophobia — We NEED to send a strong message that we do NOT tolerate or support the rhetoric the Drumpf has been using,” said a statement posted on the page.

As of 6 p.m. Thursday, 660 people said they planned to attend the protest, scheduled for 5 p.m. Friday at Monroe Park, and another 1,000 said they were interested in attending. Monroe Park is about three blocks north of the Lane Events Center.

A training was scheduled for 8 p.m. Thursday for those who wanted to attend the protest. Members of the Eugene-based Civil Liberties Defense Center, a nonprofit group headed by public interest attorneys focused on defending civil rights, were leading the training.

During a phone interview, Paredones and Akilah Powell, 23, an African-American student at the University of Oregon who is co-administrator of the Facebook page, said they do not plan to attend the 7 p.m. rally itself, out of concerns for their safety.

“I don’t want to be aggressively welcomed by the Trump supporters,” said Paredones, who declined to reveal her immigration status. “I don’t really feel that this is a question that I need to answer,” she said.

She and Powell said they are not only protesting Trump’s appearance in Eugene but also his right to speak here.

Trump is “hateful, racist and dangerous,” said Powell, and so should not be allowed to give a public talk. She said she doesn’t want tax dollars being spent on security by local police for someone like Trump.

Paredones said Trump’s continuing “rhetoric of hatred is really demeaning to our community. It’s a direct attack on me and other people of color.”

The “Drumpf” name is a reference to the Trump family’s ancestral name from Germany. Comedian John Oliver urged people to “make Donald Drumpf again” with a 22-minute segment in March on his HBO talk show “Last Week Tonight.”

A video of the episode went viral with 23.3 million YouTube views and 62 million views on Facebook, according to CNN.

On Thursday, The New York Times reported that Trump “has alienated many Hispanic voters with his campaign, which he began with a speech that dubbed some Mexicans as criminals and rapists.” Trump’s rallies “often include rowdy calls to build a large wall at the border with Mexico,” the newspaper noted.

The Times’ story was in response to Trump tweeting a photo of himself on Thursday, eating a “taco bowl” in his office.

“Happy #CincoDeMayo!” the tweet said. “The best taco bowls are made in Trump Tower Grill. I love Hispanics!”

Janet Murguía, president of the National Council of La Raza, the nation’s largest Latino organization, tweeted that Trump’s tweet was “clueless, offensive, and self-promoting,” adding in another tweet that “eating a taco or wearing a sombrero doesn’t cut it w/ our community in 2016.”

Paredones said Trump’s tweet was offensive, and she took the “I love Hispanics!” line with more than a hint of sarcasm.

“He’s just using this as another way to kind of show off,” she said.

Eighty-two percent of Hispanic registered voters view Trump unfavorably, and only 8 percent view him favorably, according to a CBS News poll taken last month.

Diann Morrison-Wilson, a local Trump for President campaign manager, said she and other supporters had no idea about any planned protests because they are too focused on supporting their party’s presumed nominee.

“No,” she said, “because we’re more focused about Mr. Trump, getting his message out about security, about illegal immigration … and getting jobs back to Americans.”

Before Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders held a rally in Springfield last week, Morrison-Wilson said a reporter asked her if any local Trump supporters would protest or attend Sanders’ event.

She said she would never consider doing such a thing.

“I just know that for us, it would be disrespectful to Mr. Trump if we went to any other (rallies) and created a problem for another candidate,” Morrison-Wilson said.

Follow Mark on Twitter @MarkBakerRG . Email [email protected] .