Oregon Right to Life hosts Nazis at annual demonstration

Like, just out in the open. No big deal.

Edited to include additional images that show Nazis moving through the crowd at the anti-abortion demonstration. Also reaction from Oregon Right to Life, along with local press failing to cover.

UPDATE:

1. Through their Twitter account, Oregon Right to Life responded to the Nazis at the “March for Life:”

Oregon Right to Life @OR_RTL

The pro-life movement is diverse and motivated by love. There is no room for aggressive tactics or supremacist ideologies.

2. When contacted about their coverage of the demonstration, the Statesman Journal explained their decision to not mention the dangerous extremists:

   

Original Article:

Anti-abortion activists gathered in Salem, OR, on January 28th for their annual March for Life demonstration at the state Capitol building. Not only did this year seem to draw dwindling crowds, but also saw National Socialists freely distributing Nazi propaganda.

Screenshot of Tweet showing Nazis openly participating in the March for Life, an annual anti-abortion demonstration.

Willamette University Professor of History Seth Cotlar’s full thread, for context:

Seth Cotlar, mostly now at the other places @SethCotlar

And this brings me to something I witnessed yesterday at a pro-life rally at the OR Capitol in Salem. In the back of the crowd I spotted a group of about 7 masked National Socialists handing out fliers for a pro-Nazi film arguing that "the wrong side won WWII."

The folks distributing Nazi propaganda indicated that they were welcomed by the anti-abortion crowd.

Different livestreams of the event confirmed that the white nationalists did more than distribute recruitment material and propaganda around the edges of the crowd, they also marched with the crowd as they moved around the Capitol building in Salem.

In the bottom-right portion of each image, you can see the National Socialists moving with the crowd:

Captured from a livestream of anti-abortion demonstration at the Oregon State Capitol building in Salem, Oregon, on January 28.

Why is this alarming?

Nazis, dude. Nazis openly recruiting and apparently being welcomed by a “pro-life” crowd. This is alarming because Nazis shouldn’t be received warmly by any crowd. It’s a dangerous escalation of publicly mingling extremely dangerous far-right ideology with mainstream conservative causes.

Also, Oregon Right to Life, who puts on this annual march, has huge influence in local politics - specifically school boards.

Hell, here in Salem-Keizer School District we have a candidate running for re-election to school board in May 2023 that has built his political career on Oregon Right to Life cash.

Satya Chandragiri, 2023 Salem Keizer School Board Candidate: Behind the Money

It will be interesting to see what school board candidates will continue taking Oregon Right to Life cash with this hard lean to the right.