HERMISTON — The “Hermiston Freedom Rally” is scheduled to take place on Festival Street starting at noon on Saturday for what organizers are calling an “information campaign” and an opportunity for residents to unite behind their constitutional right to gather.

“The Bill of Rights guarantees us the freedom to assemble, the freedom of religion, the freedom to choose how we interact and how we do business,” said Colin Hodges, who has been the event’s primary organizer, in a statement. “So that is why we rally, in support of those founding ideals.”

But the scheduled appearance of right-wing figure Joey Gibson — who has been associated with white supremacy, far-right ideologies and violence — has required organizers to emphasize and clarify the rally’s true purpose.

“Some in the community have spread disinformation and attempted to make this about politics and race,” Hodges wrote Tuesday, in a post made to a Facebook group associated with the event. “It is not about race or politics, it is about togetherness, it is about our First Amendment, and regaining our normalcy.”

The event had nearly 100 confirmed attendees on Facebook as of Wednesday, and organizers expect it to eclipse that number on Saturday in defiance of Gov. Kate Brown’s orders limiting gatherings to 25 people in the current reopening phase. The rally began to take form before the first phase of reopening and on a separate Facebook page, “Reopen Hermiston & Eastern Oregon,” which has grown to more than 1,200 members.

Along with Gibson, the event’s speakers will include HollyJo Beers, a candidate for Umatilla County commissioner, Jonathan Lopez, a former commissioner candidate and a member of Hermiston’s Hispanic Advisory Committee, and Mark Hodges, Colin’s father and former head coach of the Hermiston High School football team.

The rally has the attention of Hermiston Police Chief Jason Edmiston, who said in an interview last week that his department was making preparations as it normally would for a city event. However, the presence of Gibson, founder of the far-right Vancouver, Washington-based group Patriot Prayer, has elevated some concerns for Edmiston and his officers.

“We have some concerns in regards to the history involving Mr. Gibson and some other groups that support him, have supported him and those that have opposed him,” Edmiston said.

In recent years, Gibson has organized a number of protests and counterprotests, particularly in Portland, and has been involved in clashes with leftist protesters that have turned violent and occasionally led to arrests.

During the pandemic and associated “lockdown” orders coming from state governors, Gibson has made a number of appearances at rallies and protests in opposition of the orders. Hodges said it was Gibson’s extensive experience in politics and protests that made him an ideal speaker to invite.

But Gibson also comes to Hermiston with the baggage of Patriot Prayer’s association with the Proud Boys, an extremist group whose members describe themselves as “Western chauvinists” and has been labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Prior to a falling out between the two groups, members of Patriot Prayer and the Proud Boys often mingled and appeared at the same political rallies in Portland.

In an interview, Hodges adamantly denounced the idea that Gibson was a white supremacist.

“If you really listen to the guy, he’s really just a freedom consitutionalist,” Hodges said. “He’s a patriot.”

Gibson will be joined on the stage by Beers, who finished second in the May 19 primary and advanced to November’s general election for the lone opening on the county’s three-person board of commissioners.

Beers also helped organize the event and stood by Gibson’s views.

“It’s not like (Gibson’s) a militant hate group or anything,” she said. “The media portrayal of what he’s trying to do and the antifa problem make him look like something he really isn’t. He’s a good person, he’s smart, he knows the Constitution.”

Both Hodges and Beers also excused Gibson’s role in a street fight incident last May between a group of Patriot Prayer members and members of the Portland anti-fascist community that resulted in a woman being knocked unconscious and being sent to the hospital with an alleged vertebrae fracture.

Gibson has been indicted for his role in the incident and faces felony charges in Portland for inciting a riot.

Hodges said he anticipated the backlash once it was announced Gibson would be attending the event, but reinforced that the goal is to keep things peaceful and nonviolent.

Though not without his own concerns, Edmiston is optimistic for the same.

“At the end of the day, the Hermiston community is a diverse community and a reasonable community,” Edmiston said. “I’m hopeful things will remain peaceful.”

Regardless of Gibson’s appearance, members of the Hermiston community were already pushing back against the event and its organizers for putting the community at risk of additional spread of the virus. A group of essential workers in the area are planning to drive through the area Saturday displaying signs in counterprotest.

According to Umatilla County Public Health Director Joe Fiumara, the virus is still believed to be spread by people without symptoms who don’t know they’re sick, and the health department continues to encourage people to avoid gatherings, keep distance between others and frequently wash their hands.

Fiumara compared the health department’s role in encouraging people to avoid situations that may be dangerous for their health during the COVID-19 pandemic to its role in encouraging people to avoid tobacco products.

Fiumara advised that those who decide to attend Saturday’s rally take precautions to protect themselves.

“Just be aware that it may not be you who ends up getting sick, but it could be a friend or loved one,” he said.

Much of the weekend’s rally revolves around the belief of Hodges and others that their right to gather should not be infringed on regardless of the potential health risk.

“You cannot tell me you know what is best for my individual health,” Hodges said in a statement that compares the choice of gathering during the pandemic to choosing to eat healthy or not. “My body is not your body; my medicine is not your medicine. My choice is not your choice.”

Hodges believes that the virus will spread regardless, described the COVID-19 guidelines as “ridiculous” and “absurd,” and said people claiming rallygoers may spread the disease among the community are reading “quack science” and blindly listening to lies told by leaders and health officials.

“Where would they spread it that they weren’t already going?” he said. “Where would they spread it that the virus wasn’t already spreading?”

Organizers for the event continue to encourage people to attend if they choose to — with or without personal protective equipment — and to stay home if they choose to.

During his councilor report that concluded the May 26 Hermiston City Council meeting, Councilor Roy urged the community to keep those who are deciding to stay home in their thoughts.

“I ask citizens to please consider the safety of your neighbors. Consider the safety of others.” said. “And if you don’t have anyone who is immediately impacted, try and empathize with what could happen if you did have somebody at risk next to you.”