In recent decades, Portland, Oregon, has acquired a reputation as one of America’s most tolerant and liberal cities. In practice, this means there are taxpayer-funded sex changes for municipal employees and lots of bike lanes, but comparatively little tolerant liberalism. The city government has made it quite clear that if you have views it finds offensive, it does not want you expressing them publicly. On June 4, a political rally that was described by turns as pro-Trump, alt-right, and pro-free-speech was held on federal property in downtown Portland. It almost didn’t happen for two unsettling reasons.

First, the city begged the federal government to pull the organizer’s permit. On May 26, two men were stabbed to death and another was injured on the city’s light rail train after they came to the aid of two women, one of whom was Muslim and wearing a hijab, being verbally assaulted. The killer, Jeremy Joseph Christian, had attended an April rally put on by the same organizer. Christian is a known white supremacist; according to his social media accounts, he’s also an ardent fan of Bernie Sanders and Green party presidential candidate Jill Stein. He was reportedly asked to leave that April “March for Free Speech” after he arrived with a baseball bat and shouted obscenities.