As Portland prepares for dueling Proud Boy and Antifa rallies at Tom McCall Waterfront Park on Saturday, at least one local company is changing the location of a competitive run/walk in hopes of avoiding a possible melee.
Roses on the River, a 5k run/walk followed by a Portland Thorns game, has moved its event from the west side of the Willamette River to the Eastbank Esplanade.
The run, billed as a “super flat and fun 5k,” benefits the Oregon Food Bank and Breast Friends, a local support group people affected by Breast Cancer.
The walking wave of the race is scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. and the running wave at 9 a.m.
The Proud Boys “End to Domestic Terrorism” rally is scheduled to start sometime during the day and the “Rose City Grows Resistance!” counter-protest organized by Rose City Antifa starts at 10 a.m. at Waterfront Park.
“We got a call late last week from the head of security for the Timbers/Thorns letting us know there was going to be a protest scheduled the same day as our race,” Molly Meiergerd of Terrapin Events, the company organizing the event, said Friday.
Meiergerd said that after talking with city officials and looking at various options, Terrapin Events decided the safest option was to move the race to the east side of the river.
“We still want everyone to come out and have a great race and not have to worry about the protests happening on the other side of the river,” she said. “We want to reassure everyone that the safety of our running community is our first priority.”
On Monday, Portland Police Chief Danielle Outlaw issued a warning to protestors planning to come to the city to commit violence: “Don’t come. We don’t want you here. I don’t care what side you’re on.”
