A 75-year-old Brookings woman sustained facial injuries after someone threw an apple into the crowd at a Harris/Walz rally Friday.
The woman, who asked that her name not be used for fear of harassment, said the apple hit her left eye and fractured the orbital bone. She said she sustained scratches to her cornea and has had to put off cataract surgery. She said she had just had surgery on her right eye.
“I was just standing there waving the Harris/Walz sign and, bam!” She told Redwood Voice Community News on Monday. “We were getting some fair response — people honking horns and waving, so we were all waving back and stuff — and then, wham!”
The rally took place from about 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. in front of the Bankus Fountain near 5th Street and Chetco Avenue in Brookings. According to Curry County Democrats Chair Bret Cecil, who is also the Democratic nominee for the Oregon State House of Representatives District 1 seat, the incident took place at about 4:30 p.m.
Cecil said he was about four or five people away from the victim when an older model Subaru station wagon drove northbound in the lane closest to the sidewalk.
“I just remember seeing a car traveling right across the curb and I saw someone’s hand out of the window and I saw something hit in the gutter right in front of me,” Cecil said, adding that it was the fourth rally the local Democratic Party had held in Brookings this election season. “Somebody said it was an apple. I saw something [fly] and splatter in the street. I didn’t know anybody was hit by it. There was a lot of activity and noise.”
Cecil said he tried to get the car’s license plate number, but couldn’t get an unobstructed view. He said he also spoke with Brookings Police officer Gabby Dominguez.
Brookings Police Chief Kelby McCrae couldn’t be reached for comment on Monday.
This isn’t the first time someone threw something into the crowd at a Harris/Walz rally in Brookings. According to Vicky O’Hara, one of the organizers for Friday’s rally, an unidentified person threw a cup of ice at demonstrators from a passing vehicle about two weeks ago when they were rallying in front of local Democratic office.
“It hit a friend of mine on the fingers,” she said, “but there was a little girl standing next to her that could have been hit.”
According to Cecil, the officer who responded to Friday’s incident was helpful. He took her to where the incident took place. They found the apple in the grass alongside the road. The officer also canvassed some of the local businesses to see if she could find surveillance video that captured the incident, Cecil said.
However, he said, he still has questions about another incident that was reported to Brookings Police — the theft of a Biden/Harris sign that had been in the planter outside the local Democratic office. Someone had pulled up in front of the office, stole the sign and put it in the back of their vehicle, Cecil said.
Cameras had captured the incident on video and showed several other Biden/Harris signs in the individual’s car, he said.
“We reported that to the police department and, to my knowledge, we didn’t receive any information about that,” Cecil said. “More recently, about two months later, the same person came back and dumped the sign in front of the office and wrote something crude on the sign. Biden wasn’t the nominee. We reported that and I’m sure [there] was a license plate reported with that. We haven’t heard anything back from the police department.”
Cecil said he has also reached out to Jennifer White, chair of the Curry County Republicans. He said he’s hoping White will agree to partner with him in a letter to the editor denouncing political violence
Cecil said he’s also a member of the Indivisible Group in North Curry County and has participated in weekly rallies in Port Orford for about six years. He has also participated in rallies in Bandon and Gold Beach.
“Verbally, people are going to say things, and I actually support willing to go — even Trump supporters — if they display support of their candidate, good, do it,” Cecil said. “But you can’t be violent about it. You got to be respectful of other people.”
Despite Friday’s incident, O’Hara was organizing the next rally, though she said Saturday that she wasn’t sure if the local Democratic party wanted to be affiliated with it. She urged demonstrators to make their own signs if they weren’t able to use the official Harris/Walz posters and hold them in front of their face in an attempt to keep any projectiles at bay.
“If you think it’s too dangerous, don’t come. Or protect yourself with the sign in front of your face,” she said. “I felt it was my responsibility to tell everybody to be careful. Hold the sign up to your face, so if anything comes flying, you have a little protection.”
While it’s up to participants to decide if they feel safe demonstrating, Cecil said he didn’t want anyone to feel intimidated because of one or two individuals.
On Monday, the woman who was injured said that while her orbital bone was fractured, her eye is moving normally. She said the eye doctor who treated her on Friday said it should heal fine, though the fractured bone needs to get better before she can reschedule her surgery.
Even though she feels the violence is getting out of hand, she said she’ll still participate in rallies.
“I’m old, but I’m not a chicken,” she said. “People shouldn’t be threatened for what they’re trying to voice their opinion on.”
