There is a lot of discord in little North Plains, Oregon, a sleepy community in the hills outside Portland.
The contract-employees of the government of Saudi Arabia are in the neighborhood and there’s a lot of outrage over this first LIV exhibition series event on American soil.
Escalante Golf, the ownership entity of Pumpkin Ridge, the site of the aforementioned event, has received various written complaints/concerns over the fact that this is happening in their neck of the woods.
Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden is speaking out against the tournament and so are a number of club members.
Most outside the state don’t know about the suspicious hit-and-run death of a 15-year-old student named Fallon Smart back in 2016. The suspect was a Saudi student named Abdulrahman Sameer Noorah. He was facing a trial on first-degree murder charges when he removed a tracking device and vanished. U.S. authorities believe the Saudi government helped arrange for a fake passport and provided a private jet for travel back to Saudi Arabia.
Senator Wyden made this statement:
“It’s wrong to be silent when Saudi Arabia tries to cleanse blood-stained hands, in the fight for Oregonians to get justice — Fallon Smart was killed very close to our house in Southeast Portland, and the person charged with the crime, a hit-and-run death, was, based on all the evidence, whisked out of the country by the Saudis before he stood for trial.”
There is also concern the event could bring protests to North Plains, a town of just 3,400 people. Tickets to the event prohibit fans from displaying any political signs.
“We oppose this event because it is being sponsored by a repressive government whose human rights abuses are documented. We refuse to support these abuses by complicitly allowing the Saudi-backed organization to play in our backyard,” said a letter signed by North Plains Mayor Teri Lenahan and 10 other mayors from surrounding cities.
Wyden also accuses the Saudi government of sports-washing.
“It’s just a page out of the autocrats’ playbook covering up injustices by misusing athletics in hopes of normalizing their abuses,” he said.
Some members of the club have quit but some are in a difficult position, “A lot of members are like stuck between a rock and a hard place right now where politically they don’t agree with it at all,” said member Kevin Palmer of Beaverton. “But I also joined last year and put down like $12,000, and if I leave I don’t get any of that money back.”
Texas-based Escalante Golf, ownership entity of Pumpkin Ridge and another course on the LIV series, did not respond to a request for comment.
“We believe that we have a moral obligation to take a stand and speak out against this event in order to protect the people we serve,” the mayors wrote in their letter to the company. “While our local jurisdictions may not be able to prevent this event, we stand together to voice our concerns about the unwelcomed potential risks, visitors and harm this event could have on our communities.”
