Over 1,000 Protesters Showed up to Confront Obama in Oregon

There’s a very good reason why Obama didn’t make any public appearances in Roseburg, Oregon yesterday. This rural community was not interested in hearing him politicize the tragic Umpqua Community College shooting. In the run up to his planned visit with the families of the shooting victims, they made it very clear that he wasn’t welcome in their town, and they made good on their promise to protest his visit.

By some estimates, over a thousand people showed up to protest his gun policies, though he deftly avoided them throughout his trip. If he had confronted the protesters, it probably would have been the first time he was in the presence of so many armed citizens. Hundreds of protesters lined the road outside the airport carrying banners than read “Obama Free Zone” and “Go Home You’re Not Wanted Here” and “Prayers Not Politics.” Others carried signs that displayed their support for John Hanlin, the Douglas County Sheriff who is a dedicated Second Amendment advocate.

Oregon resident Dave Anderson seems to have summed up the sentiments of the protesters when he shared his thoughts with the press. “I don’t think Obama has any business being here. He doesn’t agree with the community’s views and I am annoyed that he keeps threatening to take our guns away…If his kids can be protected by guns, so can mine.”