Dueling demonstrators on Monday took to separate Interstate 5 overpasses more than a mile apart in Vancouver to offer competing political messages to motorists.

But the two rallies devolved into a tense confrontation when the demonstrators later came face-to-face in a battle of spit, shouts and threats. Some people came armed with hammers and long knives, including one emblazoned with a swastika.

Officers at the scene didn't report making any arrests, said Vancouver police spokeswoman Kim Kapp. Police estimated the crowd from both sides totaled about 60 people, she said.

The event started when several people planned to hold a rally celebrating white identity and heritage along the East 39th Street overpass. Dubbed "It's Okay To Be White," it coincided with the anniversary of Mulugeta Seraw's murder, an Ethiopian immigrant and Portland State University student who was beaten to death by neo-Nazis in 1988.

More than 50 antifascist activists, or antifa, showed up on the overpass about 1 p.m. with banners and signs of their own that read "Fight Racism," "United Against Hate" and "It's Okay To Punch A Nazi."

One large Rose City Antifa banner showed an image of Seraw along with the words: "We Fight In Your Memory."

Meanwhile, about six people were on the 63rd Street overpass clutching American flags and an "It's Okay To Be White" banner.

Within about an hour, antifa demonstrators arrived at the 63rd Street overpass. Shouting soon broke out. At least one black-clad protester spit in another demonstrator's face.

The back-and-forth continued for another hour before people left.

The rally's organizer, Morgan Brandfors of Lakewood, Washington, said before the gathering that she didn't know her plans coincided with the anniversary of Seraw's death.

"If I found out sooner I would have changed the date," she wrote on the event's Facebook page late Sunday night.

Her invitation said people of all races should be proud of their heritage. "Diversity shouldn't mean less whites," it read. "Your skin color is not evil. You are not racist by birth. You are not a nazi. It's Okay to be white."

Members of Rose City Antifa put out their own post saying they planned to shut the event down.

-- Shane Dixon Kavanaugh

skavanaugh@oregonian.com

503-294-7632 II @shanedkavanaugh