Citing the potential for violence, organizers canceled a rally scheduled for Saturday that was intended to be a show of unity and condemnation of what it says is growing racism in the area.
Ophelia Noble, an organizer with Southwest Washington Communities United for Change, described her group as informal and said she expected 40 to 50 people for the rally. But she said that after word of the event got out, a member of right-wing provocateur group Patriot Prayer posted on Facebook suggesting that they would show up.
“We felt there might be the potential for violence at the event,” said Noble, who noted that children and families were expected to attend. “We just felt that it would be better to cancel and keep our families safe.”
Southwest Washington Communities United for Change originally planned to hold the rally outside Vancouver Mall to call on its management to release a public apology for an incident where an African-American teenager was reportedly put in handcuffs by mall security and charged with criminal trespass after being allegedly assaulted by Tusitala “Tiny” Toese, a member of right-wing group Proud Boys.