A group of several right-wing individuals came to the Oregon State University campus, Nov. 13, to debate topics such as ICE in Portland, trans rights and Donald Trump running for office again in 2028.
Eleazer Perez, the creator of Street Debates, right-wing live streamer Thomas Allen — who goes by the username “Tommyboi4209” — and several of their friends and family came to OSU this afternoon and set their demonstration up outside the Valley Library.
When asked what they were doing on campus, the group said they were “practicing [their] First Amendment rights.”
The protestors are not part of a single collective organization, but individuals with independent brands.
Soon after their arrival, WestM Church, an OSU center for justice, peace and community that seeks to bring students, faculty, staff and community together, brought a cart with free tea and hot chocolate to help promote a positive environment for anyone on campus who potentially felt unsafe in the presence of the debaters.
Many of the debaters were live streaming and recording their confrontations and interactions with students and community members, engaging surrounding bystanders in sidewalk debates.
Members representing the WestM center read bible verses, poems and stories about community in an attempt to keep the focus off the debaters.
Wednesday Nov. 12, the same group of debaters were present at the University of Oregon.
“We were at the U of O yesterday, and a worker got whistles and handed them out to everybody. We got followed for an hour with whistles in our ears, people spitting in our face… it was chaotic,” Serena Devood, a member of the group “Right Side Rebel,” said.
“I heard from someone… that they were trying to fill the hole of Charlie Kirk’s death,” said Amman Larson, an OSU student who was in attendance.
Both University and Corvallis police were present during the rally.
At one point, a student waving a flag in front of Allen’s camera hit it, which caused a short altercation in which Allen said, “You f***ing idiot, do you wanna get f***ing hit?” The campus police stepped in to intervene, and the altercation ended there.
Perez protested with several signs bearing slogans such as “transitioning God’s children is a hate crime” and “this [in reference to unborn children] is the truly oppressed person in our culture,” which represented the topic of most of his debates.
Allen also held a sign reading “Trans women are mentally ill men.” He asked students and community members several times what they thought of his sign.
