Oregon Democratic Party Cancels Meeting Over Potential Pro-Palestine Protest

The Democratic Party of Oregon (DPO) canceled a budgetary meeting and holiday party over the weekend because of the credible threat of a pro-Palestine protest.

The meeting was scheduled to discuss the 2024-2025 budget, and DPO’s State Central Committee planned to hold a holiday party at the same time. However, according to emails obtained by local news outlet Willamette Week, DPO Chair Rosa Colquitt canceled the meeting — noting that they could not guarantee the safety of attendees due to planned pro-Palestine protests.

“We have received highly credible information that we cannot confidently hold safe and secure in-person DPO events and meetings this weekend,” Colquitt wrote in the email.

DPO executive director Brad Martin confirmed the reasoning behind the cancellation in a statement to Willamette Week.

“The party has always supported the rights of individuals to peacefully protest, but we were not confident we could hold these events safely and securely for either DPO participants or protesters,” Martin told the outlet.

Meanwhile, a flier for the protest has been shared on Instagram, showing that protesters were encouraged to hide their identities with masks. The flier asserted that there would be “no business as usual” unless Israel acquiesced to their demands for a ceasefire in their ongoing war with Hamas terrorists in Gaza.

“Democratic Party leadership and the majority of Democratic elected officials are out of touch with their constituents; almost 70 percent of Americans want a cease-fire,” the flier read. “Let them know: no votes for any candidate who doesn’t call for a cease-fire!”

Portland far-left activist Matilda Bilkers, who promoted the pro-Palestine protest and shared the flier on Instagram, has begun circulating false claims that the DPO event was canceled “due to a credible right wing threat of violence,” according to reporting from Andy Ngo, senior editor of The Post Millennial.

While the meeting has been canceled, the protest will still be happening, according to a statement from local activist Robin Lanehurst.

“Democratic voters and allies will gather outside the Beaverton Elks Lodge to protest the Oregon Democratic Party’s continued silence on the genocide in Gaza,” Lanehurst’s statement read.

The DPO’s decision to cancel their meeting comes just a few days after a violent pro-Palestine, anti-Israel riot in Washington, D.C., at the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). During the riot, the mob of roughly 150 activists were “illegally and violently protesting,” according to U.S. Capitol Police. The riot led to lockdowns at the DNC and House office buildings, as rioters pepper sprayed and punched police officers, vandalized buildings and blocked off building exits with dumpsters. One unidentified House Democrat even said that the riot had scared him “more than January 6.”