Democrat Official Who Pulled Knife On Trump Supporters Indicted On Weapons Charges; Media Tries To Frame Him As Victim
The democrat party “communications” official who threatened participants of an Oregon Women For Trump convoy with a knife has finally been indicted on charges of Unlawful Use Of A Weapon (Class C Felony) and Menacing (Class A Misdemeanor). Washington County prosecutors sure took their sweet time about it, as it was nearly two months after the incident before the case was brought before a grand jury. Clayton Callahan was indicted on December 2nd.
Callahan is apparently a corrections deputy, and has since been put on leave:
Update on liberal democrat loon who attacked Trump supporter at Oregon Women for Trump Trump Convoy in Portland. Say his name..Clayton Callahan! pic.twitter.com/2a7DINK8Xo
— Oregon Women for Trump 2020 (@RealOWFT) October 6, 2020
Janira Brannigan organized the caravan and the route through Hillsboro. She said the event took a dark turn when a man blocked the caravan with his car at an intersection and, at one point, got out of his car and charged her vehicle.
“He’s coming with his hands up in the air,” she said. “While he’s doing this, he’s yelling and screaming and making some vulgar sexual gestures—he grabs his crotch and is still yelling and screaming.”
Brannigan said she drove away but asked her friend to take a photo of the man’s license plate. That’s when the man reportedly got out of his car again—this time with a knife.
The Washington County Democratic Party said Callahan was a volunteer blogger for them but recently ended his work with the group.
“Hillsboro has a very large Hispanic community and I’m Hispanic,” said Brannigan. “There are a lot of President Trump supporters—Hispanic President Trump supporters that fear they can’t show their support because of people like Mr. Callahan.”
However, leave it to far left Maxine Bernstein of The Oregonian to try to paint Callahan out to be the victim:
Clayton Callahan, the driver of the Subaru with a Biden bumper sticker on the back, says he was just trying to turn into a convenience store to get some picnic supplies.
Callahan is active in the Washington County Democratic Party.
Brannigan is Polk County Republican Party chair.
The Oct. 4 encounter turned combustible with a widely shared video of Callahan holding a knife by his side while challenging a friend of Brannigan’s.
Callahan, 52, a state correctional officer, was arrested later that day at a family picnic and faces one count of unlawfully possessing a weapon. He has been placed on administrative leave, state officials confirmed. The county Democratic Party has distanced itself from Callahan.
Brannigan posted the video on Facebook, writing, among other things, about the “Crazy Biden psycho with a knife.” She said she doesn’t find Callahan’s explanation credible.
Callahan said he’s sorry he flipped off one of the caravan supporters outside a convenience store but otherwise was minding his own business until confronted and sought to protect himself. He said he plans to fight the allegation in court.
Each remains convinced they were in the right.
Brannigan described the scene at the green light as the caravan was on Southeast 10th Avenue in Hillsboro.
“The light turns green and he’s at a complete stop,” she told The Oregonian/OregonLive. “I’m wondering what the heck and I see he’s got a Biden sticker on his car. Oh, OK, he’s trying to play funny with us trying to hold us up. I’m honking. The light turns red and then green again. He’s not moving at all, and I’m honking and I’m honking.”
Her car had “Oregon Women for Trump” signs on the side and American flags draped out the windows.
“He knew exactly who he was targeting,” she said. “It’s very disheartening to have someone like that be so aggressive.”
Callahan said he inadvertently got mixed up in the middle of the car rally.
Callahan estimated he was stopped for no more than 30 seconds before he turned into a Plaid Pantry to buy plastic utensils for a family picnic.
“It was only after I’d parked and was walking into the store that I was even aware of a Trump parade as the man yelling insults at me in the parking lot was yelling about that, among other Trump-related things and his hatred of Democrats,” he said.
He acknowledged and said he regrets that he flashed his middle finger at someone who was heckling him for his political leanings before he entered the store.
A short time later, Callahan left the store and was back on the road but said some men stood in the street blocking his car. He said he emerged holding a knife in his right hand by his side.
Brannigan said she remembers the encounter differently.
She said Callahan, once parked at the Plaid Pantry, came up to the passenger side of her car “yelling and screaming and making vulgar hand gestures.”
She said she asked her friend to take a photo of Callahan’s license plate. Wakefield approached Callahan’s car after he had left the Plaid Pantry, she said.
“As he’s walking up to the vehicle, Clayton jumps out and is holding the knife,” she said. “We’ve had people yell and scream and try to run us off the road. But he came out of his car with a knife. What’s really upsetting is he’s a correction officer.”
Callahan said he’s eager to get back to work and believes his actions were “reasonable, appropriate and absolutely within the bounds of law.”
“My sole focus once surrounded and trapped in the road was to stay alive and to get out of there as soon as I possibly could without being hurt,” he said.
There seems to be a number of inconsistencies with Callahan’s story that don’t quite match up with the video evidence. Callahan claims he had pulled out of the Plaid Pantry convenience store, except his car is positioned before the parking lot of the store, indicating that he not yet gone into the store. He claims he was “trapped” yet there doesn’t seem to be anything in front of his car. If Callahan was acting in self defense, then why did he get out of his car and make himself more vulnerable, when he could have just left?
He also said he was arrested at a family picnic, whereas another witness tells The Gateway Pundit that Callahan had come back to the scene after police arrived, and that’s where he arrested.
Brannigan tells us that the DA’s office never brought her in to testify to the Grand Jury, or the other women in her car with her, even though they are listed in the police report.
Joey Gibson, of Patriot Prayer, put together a video analyzing the incident and digging into Callahan’s past. The original video was removed from YouTube but not before it was snagged and uploaded to VidMax:
One of the ladies in the OWFT car being held up by this lunatic is 5 months pregnant!! @therealJPBx2
— Oregon Women for Trump 2020 (@RealOWFT) October 6, 2020
Callahan is evidently an author and video game designer, who claims he served in both the Navy and Army and did two tours in Iraq.
Unlawful Use Of A Weapon is a Class C Felony, punishable by up to five years in prison.
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