Owner of LGBTQ restaurant still supports protest that ended with vandalism over alleged white supremacy

A high-end restaurant in Portland, Oregon, had to shut down after it served a group accused by left-wing protesters of being white supremacist.

Clarklewis was vandalized on Sunday after leftist activists allegedly confronted the group. A window was broken, and employees at the restaurant were traumatized.

'I totally support the protest. ... I support what they're doing, but they totally misplaced it on this restaurant.'

Joe Rogers, one of the owners of the restaurant, said the establishment doesn't support white supremacy and did not know anything about the group because it had a nondescript name.

"We knew people were coming for brunch, and we knew they were called the Oregon Group," he said, according to the Oregonian. "We knew that they had some Christian affiliation, which, of course, we allow Christians into our business."

He told KOIN: "Sure, if they walk in and they’re awful, and they’re obviously somebody that’s not going to be kind to our staff or to other guests, we’re going to ask them to leave."

The left-wing activists reportedly planned a protest against the group in part because of flyers they saw online.

The confrontation between the allegedly racist group and the left-wing protesters led to one worker quitting on the spot and others going home for the day, according to Rogers. Some also hid upstairs, he added, according to the Oregonian.

He said the group paid about $2,000 to rent a space but that he would be donating the money to a charity in order to show goodwill to the community.

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Even more ironic is that the restaurant is LGBTQ+-owned and has displayed a Pride flag for many years.

A spokesperson for the Portland Police Bureau said that police initially responded to the restaurant at about 2 p.m. that day but that there was no property damage, so they left. They were called once again, and when they returned, they found a window broken.

Rogers said one person in the group wore a shirt with a white nationalist slogan.

"Nobody was paying attention to what their T-shirt said," he added. "And I think at the end, when they were handing out pamphlets, I think the reason if they're handing out pamphlets at the end, it's because they knew they had started doing it before they would have been kicked out."

Police said they tried to determine who broke the window but were unsuccessful, and no arrests were made.

"I totally support the protest," Rogers said to the Oregonian. "I support what they're doing, but they totally misplaced it on this restaurant."

It is unclear whether the restaurant has reopened.

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