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Young Voices Rise

Alissa Azar

17 Oct 2025 — 6 min read

Young Voices Rise

High Schoolers Clap Back at Far Right Bullies

On Wednesday, October 15th, I arrived at David Douglas High School to find about 30 people, some waving oversized American flags and rocking Charlie Kirk “freedom” shirts on the sidewalk outside. Before I could even finish the thought of how pathetic it all looked, the final school bell rang and students began to pour outside.

It didn’t take long for students to gather around the spectacle these mostly out-of-town right-wingers had created. While some seemed ready to hold their own protest in response, others seemed completely confused.. “Who the fuck are these goofy ass boomers with American flags,” I heard one student ask their friends.

Back on October 10th, Audra Price posted a flyer to Facebook urging people to support a student she claimed tried to start a Turning Point USA chapter at the school but was met with “extreme opposition” from staff and students. She went on to say that this student was ambushed, pushed up against a wall, harassed with insults and threatened.

For those unfamiliar, Audra Price is a far-right extremist organizer well-known amongst antifascists across the Pacific Northwest, with strong ties to violent neo-Nazis. She formerly helped run CopsNW alongside her ex-boyfriend Tim Ryerson, who is a pedophile and sex offender. Price was one of the key organizers behind far-right rallies on August 22nd, 2020, September 26th, 2020, August 22nd, 2021, and more. Events that were branded as “peaceful flag waves” but repeatedly turned into street violence. These rallies often involved groups like the Proud Boys, many of whom came from out of town to engage in brutal attacks against anti-racist counter protesters using clubs, bear mace, improvised explosives, and even pulling firearms on people.

Photos of Audra Price with Tim Ryerson, and snippet from a police report about Ryersons conviction

In 2021, Price was dating violent neo-Nazi Eric Oelkers, a Patriot Prayer member that regularly shared anticom and Third Position memes online. Oelkers entered the scene in 2019 after he and a group of fascists, led by Patriot Prayer member Joey Gibson, attacked an antifascist May Day celebration. It’s worth noting that Price has no connection whatsoever to David Douglas High School.

Screenshots from Corvallis Against Fascism and Rose City Antifa posts on Twitter

Students who actually attend David Douglas High School and were present at the meeting in question told a very different story:

One student confirmed that a lot of students did indeed show up. They said it was around 50 predominantly non-white and queer students who showed up to sit in on the meeting. Another student said that “people were just sitting in the meeting, maybe joking to their friends, but there was no harassment.” They added that the club founders left the meeting because they felt “unsafe.” "Everyone was confused because they didn’t even say anything, and then the advisor had to cancel the meeting,” they added.

I later approached a school administrator to ask about the club and the alleged harassment. They clarified that much of the information spreading online ahead of the protest was false. They explained that the process for starting a new club is always the same, and that pre-formation meetings are standard. The only unusual part was that this particular meeting ended early, due to the student organizers leaving unexpectedly about ten minutes in.

“If the students who started the club left because they felt unsafe, they felt “unsafe” because they didn’t have the courage to say what they were going to say otherwise due to who was present,” said one student, referring to the mostly Black and Brown and queer students who showed up to the meeting. The proposed club? “Club America,” the high school version of Turning Point USA. (More here).

One student shared concerns about the club, saying, “With how diverse our school is, bringing in a right wing group that could radicalize students is a real threat.”

As the protest continued outside, students initially stayed on the same side of the street as the far-right group. Some debated them, others mocked them, and a few held hand-written signs. Eventually, the students huddled together and decided to cross the street and take over the opposite sidewalk. For most of the protest, the students outnumbered the far-right demonstrators.

Can’t get over the kid who checked in with the larger group of students to ask “would it be mean if I went over there and body shamed him?” The kids responded by saying yes, reminding them that there’s so much other material to use
— Alissa Azar (@alissaazar.bsky.social) 2025-10-16T00:11:44.361Z

Once across the street, students continued to chant and hold signs. Slogans included “Free Palestine!” and “We are united, we are Scots!” (a reference to the school’s mascot). At one point, a lone student boldly crossed into the far-right crowd, holding a sign that read: “Audra Price dates pedophiles and neo-Nazi abusers. She has no business organizing the far-right to show up at a school.”
She weaved through their group for nearly ten minutes, unbothered.

A single student crossed the street and walked thru the group of far right extremists waving this sign
— Alissa Azar (@alissaazar.bsky.social) 2025-10-15T22:22:42.209Z

Throughout the afternoon, students refuted the far-right talking points with facts about both national politics and local issues. On several occasions, they pointed out the obvious: that the people protesting had no connection to their school, were significantly older, and were all white, while the student protesters were young, local, and predominantly non-white.

These students stayed after school for hours, holding their ground and making sure their voices were heard. What had been a morning filled with dread turned into something deeply inspiring. Watching them speak truth to power, with courage and humor, left me with more hope than I’ve felt in a long time.

The youth are, in fact, alright.