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After an afternoon of cooking chili and making homophobic comments peppered with slurs, Loco Fish Co. owner Jayme Knight, who does not deny using the offensive language, drove his truck over supplies and equipment belonging to neighboring competitors Foggy Bottoms Boys, a family farming operation run by husbands Thomas and Cody Nicholson Stratton. According to Ferndale Police Chief Ron Sligh, officers at the fairgrounds subsequently arrested Knight on suspicion of drunk driving. Sligh says so far it doesn’t look like the damage caused was intentional, but FPD is still talking to witnesses regarding whether anything Knight said would necessitate forwarding the case to the district attorney for consideration of hate crime charges.

“The subject we arrested was not cooperative with us,” Sligh says.

Under the law, simply using homophobic language, slurs or other hate speech is not a crime unless it includes a threat of violence. Meanwhile, the law defines a hate crime as a crime specifically motivated by a bias toward the victim because of their race, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation, nationality or disability.

As such, to accuse Knight of a hate crime, prosecutors would need evidence that he both ran over the supplies intentionally and did so because of the Nicholson Strattons’ sexual orientation. 

Thomas Nicholson Stratton, whose husband is away at the Oregon State Fair, says when he arrived at the competition, employees cooking the Foggy Bottoms Boys’ chili entry informed him Knight had been making disparaging comments about “gay beef” and using anti-gay slurs in reference to their business. They said Knight, who “seemed intoxicated,” was becoming “more boisterous throughout.” It’s not the first time Nicholson Stratton or his crew have been confronted with bigotry, and he says they stuck to their policy of not engaging. He was, however, concerned at what his 4-year-old son may have heard as he visited the Foggy Bottoms booth.

When it came time to pack up, Nicholson Stratton says, “the owner ran over several boxes of our ingredients and then backed over [them] again.” Those supplies also included a table, marrow bones, jars of ingredients and a new burner purchased for the event, some of which was salvageable, some not. A Foggy Bottoms Boys Instagram post Aug. 27 describes the incident but does not name Knight or Loco Fish Co.

Knight admits he used slurs but says, “I had zero intention of running over their table and bones. I was doing a three-point turn to back up and go and load the truck,” but didn’t see the supplies. “Any kind of gay slurs I really didn’t direct toward them,” says Knight, who also says he didn’t realize the Foggy Bottoms Boys booth was immediately next to the Loco Fish Co. tent he was standing in under full daylight for hours with visible signage and only layers of mesh separating their respective staffs.

“God, I regret my actions so much,” Knight says. “I don’t know what to say; I don’t have any excuses. I had too much to drink and my judgement got the better of me.” Without denying having used anti-gay slurs, he adds, “I really don’t have any hatred at all toward the LGBTQ community at all. I’m just trying to wrap my mind around how it got so out of control. I need to really work on myself; I needa go to rehab and therapy.”

Nicholson Stratton doesn’t see how Knight’s bigoted remarks weren’t aimed at him, his family and his business, since, “We were there and named in those comments.”

Event coordinator Melissa Sanderson, who is also the publisher of the Journal, says she did not know about Knight’s comments until after the event, though she was aware of his arrest. Jill Duffy, the fair’s interim CEO, also says she only became aware of a problem when the Ferndale police became involved but that such behavior and language is not compatible with a family-friendly fair. Duffy says she wishes she’d been informed earlier.

“I would have immediately been out there and put a stop to it,” she says. “Personally, I have no room for it. … I’m really glad he was able to be removed without anyone being hurt.” She adds that starting next year, private event participants and vendors will be made “aware they are at a family-friendly event and they need to comport themselves in an appropriate manner or they’ll be removed.”

Nicholson Stratton says he’s warmed by the outpouring of support in response to the Instagram post, though he says he’s also received messages from people insisting Knight would never make such comments, despite Knight’s own admission. Knight has attempted to contact the Foggy Bottoms Boys but Nicholson Stratton says they are keeping to their policy of non-engagement.

“We’re not out to share the misfortunes of someone else’s ailments and challenges,” says Nicholson Stratton, adding they felt it was important to acknowledge the incident. “Those things do exist, but we are bigger and stronger, and they are the few."