Between May 30-June 1, as overwhelming video evidence demonstrates, the Salem Police Department conducted selective enforcement of curfew laws and failed to adequately perform their duties to ensure that heavily armed militia members, many of which have been confirmed to be white supremacists, were in compliance with Salem municipal gun code.

The selective enforcement occurred while heavily armed militia members, many of which have been confirmed to be white supremacists, took over part of downtown - specifically, the public sidewalk in front of the Glamour Salon at the corner of Liberty Street and Ferry Street and the parkade above the salon. Some of the militia members pointed assault rifles at peaceful Black Lives Matter protesters and at non-protesting Salem residents from the sniper position in the parkade above the Glamour Salem. I was personally subjected to this menacing act while performing duties as a civil rights observer during the Black Lives Matter protests that occurred during this timeframe.

It is worth noting that in the now-infamous June 1 video, right after the interaction between the armed militia group and a Salem PD officer that went viral, an 'Antifa threat' was discussed by the Salem PD officer and the person filming. That threat was later determined to be planted by white supremacists running a fake Twitter account (linked below):

https://www.foxnews.com/us/twitter-misinformation-dc-blackout-white-nationalist-group-antifa

After a June 1, 2020 video surfaced showing Salem Police Department clearly giving preferential treatment to the armed group (the video went viral, seen by literally millions of people), Salem PD Chief Jerry Moore, presumably with the assistance of Salem PD Public Information Officer Lt. Jason VanMeter, issued a public statement on June 3, 2020 stating, among other things, that “The message we have received is a concern that we are treating people differently.  For that I tell you, I am sorry.  Sorry that there is even a thought that this department would treat some different than others.”

The statement was issued prior to a second video surfacing which showed very clearly that there was indeed a pattern of selective enforcement, including selective enforcement occurring while a known white supremacist told a Salem PD officer to tell ‘VanMeter’ she said 'hi.'

The video also captures Black Lives Matter protesters being subjected to tear gas and other law enforcement crowd control tactics, including what sounds like the use of rubber bullets and flash grenades, while the armed group of militia members laughed and experienced no enforcement at all, but rather, were told to move to the side, even after the person filming made it clear that the group was 'trying to be like you' in reference to the officer.

The video was broadcast on Facebook May 31, 2020 starting at 1:09 AM PST. I was personally subjected to tear gas while in my vehicle (which was not subject to the curfew) while performing my duties as a civil rights observer hours prior to the start of this particular video.

A link to the referenced May 31 video can be found below. The filmer, who has been seen on social media proudly displaying a white supremacist hand symbol and declaring support for the Proud Boys, makes a reference to a race civil war (Boogalations Revelations) at the 9:16 minute mark of the video, and the previously referenced interaction with the Salem Police Officer starts at the 16:15 mark of the video:

https://youtu.be/HRXx3cByyfo

As of the launch of this petition, this second video has yet to be addressed by Salem PD. Neither of the videos and related publicly available information has been properly addressed by Salem city leaders.

In neither the May 31, 2020 video nor the June 1, 2020 video is there evidence that Salem PD ensured that all of the heavily armed militia members, many of which have been confirmed to be white supremacists, were in compliance with Salem gun municipal code (SRC 95.095).

Selective enforcement of the curfew was in clear violation of Article 1 Section 20 of the Oregon Constitution as well as the 14th Amendment Section 1 of the United States Constitution.

Because Salem PD and Salem city leaders have failed in their duties, and members of Oregon's Legislature that represent Salem residents have refused to step up and seem to want to punt the issue back to city leaders that are doing essentially nothing to address this matter, it is necessary for a third-party investigation to be launched.

Please be aware that all information in my possession related to this matter, which is extensive and not entirely included in this petition because there is so much of it, has already been provided to members of Oregon's Congressional delegation to urge them to investigate the matter as well.

Please sign and share this petition to urge Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum to step up and launch an investigation into the matter.