Rep. Jesse Young, armed men, show up at peaceful BLM protest in Gig Harbor. They weren’t with me, he says.

State Rep. Jesse Young, R-Gig Harbor, and a group of men, some of them armed, confronted a peaceful group of young people demonstrating in favor of the Black Lives Matter movement in Gig Harbor on Wednesday, participants said.

“It was really disheartening to see this elected official trying to intimidate teenagers,” said Alex Davidson, 19, one of the organizers of the ad-hoc group called Gig Harbor Solidarity. “But we weren’t intimidated. We stood our ground.”

But Young maintains he was there by himself, did not know some of the gun carriers, and in fact sympathizes with the protesters’ cause. He only wanted to warn the demonstrators against causing property damage, he said.

About 200 people, mostly young, lined Point Fosdick Drive about 4 p.m. Wednesday. June 3, to wave signs and shout slogans in support of black Americans protesting police shootings. The road borders the Uptown Gig Harbor shopping center.

“Jesse Young showed up with about a dozen supporters,” said Davidson. “Some of them were carrying Trump 2020 signs, some of them were carrying guns. There were a lot of guns. There was one guy with a shotgun and a bandolier full of rounds across his chest.”

The open carrying of long guns, such as rifles and shotguns, is legal in Washington state.

Guns and flags

Photographs taken by the BLM demonstrators show one man carrying an AR-15 style semi-automatic rifle with a high-capacity magazine inserted. Another shows a man with a shotgun and rows of shells hanging from a belt. Young stands next to him, carrying a flag and a sign.

According to a protester who paraphrased it, the sign read: “Attention protesters. Peaceful protest is OK, but attacks on persons or property will not be tolerated.”

“No one was damaging any property,” said Micaela Schuler, 20, one of the demonstrators. “Nobody needed their protection. It was just a way to make it all about Jesse Young.”

Young said his appearance at the event has been twisted.

“I don’t go with a group,” he said. “I showed up with a flag and a sign. Now, those other people, those people with guns, had a right to be there. They were standing up for their rights. And as a conservative, I knew some of them. But some of them, I didn’t know at all.”

Supports the cause

Young said he was among the first Washington state Republicans to condemn the death of George Floyd, the black man whose death in police custody in Minneapolis set off nationwide protests. Many of the young protesters were surprised to hear that, he said.

“I wasn’t there to counter-protest,” he maintained Friday. “I was to support the call for justice and peaceful protest. I came alone, without any staff, without even any campaign materials.”

Young said he “had a great time” most of the night, sharing food and drinks with the young demonstrators and engaging them in conversation, until a “Democrat lady with a bullhorn showed up and got the crowd whipped up.”

He claimed the crowd at one point chanted “F*ck Jesse Young” and “Vote him out.”

Young said he did carry a Trump sign someone handed him for a few minutes, but he also carried a sign, also handed to him, that memorialized Floyd.

‘Great discussions’

Gig Harbor Police Chief Kelly Busey, who was at the scene most of the day, said the opposing sides were generally civil and peaceful.

“I was very proud of our community,” he said. “I heard and saw great discussions between people with opposite viewpoints, and that includes the people who were openly carrying weapons.”

There were no arrests or citations — “nothing even close,” Busey said. “It was the way a peaceful demonstration should be handled.”

Kiki Mamea, 16, a student at Gig Harbor High School, said she and her friends joined the demonstration to “come together for the lives that were lost” in Minneapolis and elsewhere, and was a little startled when men with guns showed up.

“I was somewhat intimidated,” she said, “But I just tried not to let it really affect what I was there for.”

A man with what appeared to be an AR-15 strapped to his back glared at her as he passed, but they did not exchange words, she said. The moment was caught in a photograph.

Jeers and insults

Other demonstrators said the men jeered at them with insults like “ignorant teenagers,” or “rude little girls.” One woman among them yelled at a young woman of color, “go back to your own town.” Others chanted, “Go back to mommy’s basement.”

Griffin Bird, 19, a Gig Harbor High School graduate in his first year at the University of Washington, said Young was “more civil in talking to people than some of the other counter-protesters, but he was definitely not there to support us.”

When the crowd was asked to kneel symbolically at one point to show support for Floyd, Young and the men who seemed to accompany him remained standing, Griffin said.

“It was really disheartening to see a community leader refuse to kneel,” he said.

Whether Young and the armed men were together or not, Griffin said he couldn’t be sure, “but they certainly seemed friendly, they had conversations together, they held signs together, and they seemed to share the same antagonistic attitude toward us.”

Mayor: Leave guns at home

Gig Harbor Mayor Kit Kuhn said Friday he was glad the encounter was peaceful, but disappointed in the display of guns.

“I think that’s really not what we want to show in our community,” he said. “That can be intimidating. Weapons should be used for safety on your own premises.”

Kuhn said he and the city council are planning a community “walk in solidarity” at 5:30 p.m. next Wednesday, June 10, at the Harbor Hill roundabout.

“Our system across the U.S. is broken, and we need to take the lead in showing our community and nation that we need reform and change,” Kuhn said.

The marchers will meet just beyond the roundabout at Sentinel Drive and walk north on Harbor Hill Drive to the next roundabout. The street will be closed for 90 minutes.

All-night standoff

By the end of the evening Wednesday, the crowd had begin to dwindle, but the armed men remained.

“They said they wouldn’t leave until we did,” said Schuler. “So we — my friends and I — decided to wait them out.”

Jesse Young left about 7:30 a.m., she said. She and her friends left shortly after.

“So we won,” she laughed.

This story was originally published June 5, 2020 at 5:04 PM.