Team Oaks Speed Skater Statement on Skyler Jernigan

Mathew ----- <-----@mac.com>
Sat 8/22/2020 12:57 AM

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To: You
I’ve been skating with the Team Oaks speed skating team since 2013. I don’t know if Skyler worked at Oaks Park or the rink before I got there, but I do remember that he was working there and started showing up at speed practices around 2014 or 2015.

All I knew about the kid was that he was somehow related to the then CEO of the park and that his family had a long and positive history of being involved in all aspects of the rink. Not a lot of people may know that roller skating isn’t just a recreational activity, but also a competitive sport. This family has been largely responsible for the growth and international success of competitive artistic skaters coming out of Portland for the last 40 years. They haven’t been active with the speed program since I’ve been there, but everyone involved in competitive skating in Portland knows who they are. While skating talent ran in the family, it wasn’t a trait that Skyler inherited.

My initial impression of skyler was that he was more than a little odd. Everyone assumed he was somewhere on the autism spectrum, although I don’t remember anyone confirming that. I think he got away with less acceptable behavior because of this and possibly his relation to rink management.

By “less acceptable behavior” I don’t mean anything too egregious at this time. He was just weird and socially awkward. He never seemed to know how to relate to people. He liked to talk about his martial arts skills,  usually in a braggadocios kind of way, like he desperately wanted  people’s admiration. Nobody paid it much attention. The same goes for his involvement with speed skating. I think he came to the occasional speed practice just because he wanted to call himself a speed skater. He never appeared to take it seriously and he never progressed beyond the most basic set of skills, but he would talk to anyone who would listen as if he were a pro. The only trouble I remember him getting into then was for wearing his speed suit during a public session. For some reason, not everyone appreciates the one piece spandex skin suit. It’s not something any of us would normally do.

Skyler’s behavior started changing when Trump was elected and the more extreme ideologies started creeping out. There was some overly dramatic debate at the time over trans gendered use of public restrooms. Skyler would have anyone who would listen to him believe he was the sole protector of the sanctity of the rinks restrooms. Probably not the best person to work the rinks “gay skate”. I remember him talking about wanting to apply for a job with the US border patrol. Again, nobody could take him seriously as he was obviously not qualified for any such job.

We saw less and less of Skyler at speed practices after that. If he did show up, he’d bail out half way through practice claiming to have low blood sugar or something. He still wanted to call himself a speed skater, so he would show up at a race or two over the next few years. There was one race in Washington that he went to; The Battle in Seattle. Its one of the biggest races in the country at the rink that Apollo Ohno and JR Celsci came up from. Skyler showed up to that race wearing his MAGA hat like some smug little prick completely unaware or unconcerned about how he was representing himself or his team. This was shortly after the Charlottesville events. The meet was a three day event. Skyler slept in his car in the parking lot of the rink. He never joined the team in any activities outside of the races. He had ostracized  himself from the team and the greater speed skating community. My impression at the time was that he had found a new identity that he desperately wanted to be accepted into..that of the MAGA hive if not plain ol white  supremacist.

At some point in all of this, there was an incident related to protests in Portland. I don’t know much detail about it, but from what I understand Skyler joined the right wing faction in an altercation with the left (let’s call it the 3 percenters vs antifa, that’s pretty common around here). Unsurprisingly, this oddball kid who no doubt wanted so desperately to be accepted by his new group of like minded extremists decided to lob some threats against “the other side”. I don’t remember if this was in person or online, but I’m pretty sure it was the latter. Someone figured out who he was and connected Skyler to the rink. Skyler was fired (if he was still working there at the time) and banned from the Oaks Park property, including the rink. I think that was in 2018, but I’m not certain on the timing. I haven’t seen him or given much thought to him since.

I wish I could say I was surprised seeing him show up in the news like this, but I’m not. In fact, I’ve found myself wondering if this is how people feel when they recall their memories of any mass shooter before they became monsters. I’m glad nobody was injured by him and I hope very much that this is the last we hear of him and that he’s not on his way to becoming a monster.

Hope that gives some insight into what I know about the guy.

Mat.