A drag-queen story hour starring an 11-year-old performer at an Oregon pub was targeted by Proud Boys and neo-Nazis, some of whom hurled heavy rocks and smoke bombs during fiery clashes outside the event.
Police in riot gear ultimately had to intervene to stop the mayhem at Old Nick’s Pub Drag Queen Story Time Brunch on Sunday. The Eugene Police Department said in a statement that it was well aware ahead of time that the event had “drawn polarized attention” across the state.
“Because opposing groups were communicating plans to attend, possibly armed, Eugene Police created security plans to allow for a safe environment for everyone in the community to exercise their constitutional rights and freedoms, to protect the lives and property of all involved, and prevent safety disruption to uninvolved community members,” the police department said in a statement.
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Before 10 a.m. Sunday, hundreds of supporters and organizers gathered ahead of the event at Old Nick’s Pub, according to The Register-Guard. Meanwhile, dozens of protesters assembled across the street, some wielding assault rifles and holding up signs that claimed the drag time brunch was sexualizing children.
“What kind of monster exposes kids to this?” read one sign, The Register-Guard reported.
Things took a chaotic turn when attendees of the drag queen story brunch said protesters attempted to enter the pub without tickets, Lane Community College newspaper The Torch reported. As protesters were pushed away from the pub, they allegedly hurled rocks and smoke bombs at brunch attendees.
All hell broke loose as counter-protesters fought back, according to the newspaper. Eventually, the street was closed to traffic when projectiles and fire bombs went flying, police said. One man was transported to a hospital, but police didn’t provide details on his injury.
It wasn’t until after 1 p.m. that the crowd began to dissipate and the street was reopened to traffic, local outlet KATU Portland reported.
Old Nick’s Pub wrote on Facebook late Sunday that the event was a success, despite the chaos outside.
“We had a wonderful safe day,” the pub’s account posted. “Thank you to every one of you in our community who stood with us. Please be gentle with our staff this week. Almost all of us are queer and it was not easy for any of us. But we did it. Love wins.”
The post received nearly 700 positive reactions.
Drama over the event began when Old Nick’s Pub advertised the drag queen story hour on social media by showcasing the guest performer, 11-year-old Vanellope MacPherson DuPont.
“With all the charm and sweetness of a bowl of sugary cereal, Vanellope is here to brighten up your morning with all her drag talent,” the since-deleted Oct. 17 post read.
The post was flooded with over 150 comments and had been shared more than 300 times.
“We can’t wait to see her this weekend!” Sarah Cairo wrote. “My daughter had a blast at the last story time and she loved getting to dance with Vanellope at the end. I’m so glad there’s a safe place for kids to express themselves.”
Others were not as supportive.
“If a child want [sic] to play dress great good. If they want to put make up on ok. But…this is a little far fetched for me,” Ian Anderson wrote. “This day in age we Fight over everything but when it comes to kids I scratch my head and wonder if this is more the parents pushing this on their child or is a child making this decision on their own.”
On Twitter, a woman slammed the event and accused the pub of having ties to antifa.
“So I see an advert for a drag Queen story hour for kids at a pub in Eugene (named after Satan) promoting the attendance of an 11 year old dragon queen by the name of Vanellope,” @hunnybadgermom tweeted Oct. 18. “I think, ‘This is bad.’ Send to a friend and we both start digging because something seems very off.”
“Looking a bit closer at the pub we see there may be a connection with antifa and the local kink scene as well,” @hunnybadgermom continued. “Many people on the page defending a child drag queen and the pub in comments.”
On Oct. 20, Old Nick’s Pub shared a message from Vanellope’s family that the child had been a target of social media harassment due to her involvement with the drag queen story brunch.
“[Vanellope] was made a victim of doxing by Mrs. HunnyBadgerMom, who is married to a well-known Proud Boy, which caused her not to attend school for the entire week due to safety concerns,” the post read.
The Daily Beast attempted to reach out to @hunnybadgermom prior to the publishing of this story, but she did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In a later response, @hunnybadgermom insisted that she is not married to a member of the Proud Boys and never doxed Vanellope.
