Jordan Klepper Was Pepper Sprayed While Covering Portland Protests

Watching Jordan Klepper’s field pieces over the years has given me a look into how certain people in the country are regressing. He’s spoken to people who have gotten increasingly more erratic and nonsensical as time has gone on. It doesn’t even feel selective. Klepper talks to a lot of different people at the rallies he attends, and they all end up spouting the same hateful, faux intellectual nonsense, whether they’re wearing a suit and a tie or bejeweled cowboy hats (or both).

Still, there was only ever one time I feared for his safety. That was, of course, on January 6th, 2021. Jordan Klepper was there, and his reports from the insurrection are terrifying. Still, he managed to get away unscathed (even if the country didn’t). At the time, it felt like things might get better post-J6. Folks seemed pretty clear-eyed about the fact that it was terrible. But that sentiment changed fairly quickly, and even people who faced consequences have been released.

Instead, it’s safe to say that things have gotten worse since then. The worst kinds of people have not only been emboldened, but they’ve been given government jobs that allow them to push cruelty and hatred. That’s why it’s important to have a counterbalance. Protestors in Portland, Oregon, achieved this by introducing colorful costumes, naked bike rides, and unfettered joy. They protested in a way that showed their spirits would not be broken, and they were pepper-sprayed for their time.

In a recent article for Variety, Klepper explained how ICE provoked citizens and attempted to make peaceful protests turn violent. “As we were doing talking to people, we watched ICE agents consistently shooting these pepper bullets into the crowd. We watched them shove a musical band dressed in banana suits, knock a clarinetist to the ground, shove her face into the ground — where she was then taken across state lines for two days. It was terrifying,” he said. “Mere seconds after a joyous, comedic protest coming down the street to try to stop some of the cruelty taking place inside. It was really something to behold that I’ve never experienced anything like.”

Never experienced anything like that, and again, he was at the January 6th Insurrection. But now, the guy who caused the insurrection is in charge, and his people are behaving accordingly. “The violence I saw was so performative, was so reckless, and there was such an intention to provoke,” Klepper noted. “It was peaceful protesters, who simply were there to provide a counterpoint to the images and the things that we heard about happening inside. But it was gross. It makes you disgusted to see American servicemen being used to literally attack people in banana costumes playing classical music. Our cameraman has disturbing footage, as he was right up there. I was on the outskirts of it, and we all had to leave because we were choking on pepper spray.

I’d like to think that this being so out in the open would change people’s minds, but I’m not naive. If anything, there are a lot of losers out there who will probably be happy to hear that Klepper was a victim of such actions. That doesn’t make it any less shocking, but it should be more so. As Klepper mentions in the article, this administration keeps the news cycle moving absurdly quickly. Even this horrific moment will be moved on from. It’s insane.