Another day, another court appearance for Andrew Oswalt.
I've just returned from the Benton County courthouse, where once again we had a great showing of people turning out to let Andrew Oswalt (and any other Nazis that might be paying attention) know that Corvallis is not a place they are welcome. Once again it was pretty much standing room only as local residents took a stand against racist hate.
I'm sure that the Gazette-Times will do a good job of cataloging what happened in the hearing today, and I'll get to that myself in a minute. But I want to both begin and end with things that I know the official reporter there didn't capture.
As already stated, there were easily thirty or more people who showed up today to show their opposition to racism and hate. And once again, I was in the entryway of the courthouse, handing out blank stickers and pens so people could make labels bearing their chosen anti-racist message. Which also meant I was there when Andrew Oswalt - small and slight of build and seemingly very tense and cautious - came into the courthouse. He was all alone; we were dozens. He didn't know where to go, and wandered down the wrong hall, and then came back, before being directed to the courtroom upstairs. Not that he took the stairs - he took the elevator. When the elevator doors opened to let him in, there was already a woman inside with a large NO HATE sticker prominently displayed.
Upstairs he found the courtroom already packed with people of all ages and skin tones who were there to refute his hateful ideology.
As for the hearing itself, here are the highlights:
Oswalt will be allowed to "visit or relocate" to his family's place in Washington state. (More on that later.) If I had to bet on one of those two, I'd say "relocate" seems like a real possibility. If he leaves the state, Oswalt will also have to sign a waiver of extradition.
One witness lives in the same building as Oswalt, so it was requested that the existing no contact order be amended to account for that.
It turns out that Oswalt also sent an e-mail, from his OSU account, to one of the witnesses in this case (who is an OSU student). Though the message itself was not overtly threatening, it seems clear that the intent was to intimidate this person in some manner.
When it was over, all the good people who had showed up made their way out of the courthouse, and several small groups of us were still outside when Oswalt - slowly, deliberately, cautiously - came out of the courthouse and walked away. He crossed the street, and got into a large white four-door vehicle with Washington state plates. It was driven by a very old man, with pure white hair. There was a middle-aged woman in the passenger's seat. Oswalt got into the back seat.
After they talked for a moment, the car pulled out and drove away. Oswalt's family lives in Issaquah, Washington. I can't help but feel that someone should give the good people of Issaquah a heads up that they may have an incoming Nazi. Then again...If his family members were too embarrassed and ashamed to even come into the courthouse with him...Who knows what his standing with them may be?
All I know is that I continue to be proud that the members of this community have showed up to let him know how we feel about his racist hate.
I've just returned from the Benton County courthouse, where once again we had a great showing of people turning out to let Andrew Oswalt (and any other Nazis that might be paying attention) know that Corvallis is not a place they are welcome. Once again it was pretty much standing room only as local residents took a stand against racist hate.
I'm sure that the Gazette-Times will do a good job of cataloging what happened in the hearing today, and I'll get to that myself in a minute. But I want to both begin and end with things that I know the official reporter there didn't capture.
As already stated, there were easily thirty or more people who showed up today to show their opposition to racism and hate. And once again, I was in the entryway of the courthouse, handing out blank stickers and pens so people could make labels bearing their chosen anti-racist message. Which also meant I was there when Andrew Oswalt - small and slight of build and seemingly very tense and cautious - came into the courthouse. He was all alone; we were dozens. He didn't know where to go, and wandered down the wrong hall, and then came back, before being directed to the courtroom upstairs. Not that he took the stairs - he took the elevator. When the elevator doors opened to let him in, there was already a woman inside with a large NO HATE sticker prominently displayed.
Upstairs he found the courtroom already packed with people of all ages and skin tones who were there to refute his hateful ideology.
As for the hearing itself, here are the highlights:
Oswalt will be allowed to "visit or relocate" to his family's place in Washington state. (More on that later.) If I had to bet on one of those two, I'd say "relocate" seems like a real possibility. If he leaves the state, Oswalt will also have to sign a waiver of extradition.
One witness lives in the same building as Oswalt, so it was requested that the existing no contact order be amended to account for that.
It turns out that Oswalt also sent an e-mail, from his OSU account, to one of the witnesses in this case (who is an OSU student). Though the message itself was not overtly threatening, it seems clear that the intent was to intimidate this person in some manner.
Also, Oswalt claims to have come to a "written agreement" with OSU regarding his work and status there. This was stated, but then Oswalt said he didn't have a copy of the written agreement for the judge to read, which seems odd, to say the least. So the whole OSU issue will remain in limbo until the judge can read this agreement. The next hearing in this case was set for February 26th.
When it was over, all the good people who had showed up made their way out of the courthouse, and several small groups of us were still outside when Oswalt - slowly, deliberately, cautiously - came out of the courthouse and walked away. He crossed the street, and got into a large white four-door vehicle with Washington state plates. It was driven by a very old man, with pure white hair. There was a middle-aged woman in the passenger's seat. Oswalt got into the back seat.
After they talked for a moment, the car pulled out and drove away. Oswalt's family lives in Issaquah, Washington. I can't help but feel that someone should give the good people of Issaquah a heads up that they may have an incoming Nazi. Then again...If his family members were too embarrassed and ashamed to even come into the courthouse with him...Who knows what his standing with them may be?
All I know is that I continue to be proud that the members of this community have showed up to let him know how we feel about his racist hate.
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