By Keadan Weiler, Agostinho Da Silva
Eugene residents organized several protests outside the Eugene Federal Building, throughout Feb. 28. Demonstrators protested ICE, the recent strikes on Iran and the Trump Administration’s actions across the country.
Protests began near 8th Avenue and Oak Street in the Eugene City Park Blocks in front of the Lane County Courthouse. Speakers from multiple local unions, including Lane Community College Educators Association, Service Employees International Union, and the American Postal Workers Union held a rally to protest against ICE enforcement actions against immigrant communities happening across Oregon and the nation.
The peaceful protesters then marched from the Lane County Courthouse to the Eugene Federal Building, where the protest continued. By 4 pm, about 100 people were chanting and carrying signs.
The protest continued in the plaza of the Federal Building, including speeches to the crowd by organizers as individuals showed up in black bloc gear throughout the afternoon.
By 5 pm, the Union organizers started packing up and heading out, as the “No Business As Usual” protest started to ramp up. At 5:25, the crowd began heading north along Pearl Street, ending up at the intersection of Pearl Street and 6th Avenue. At 5:36pm, the group moved onto the west end of the intersection and blocked off 6th Avenue.
At 6:08 pm, an SUV drove through the line of protesters blocking 6th Street, causing the protesters to yell and smack the sides of the SUV to try and stop the vehicle from running them over. Less than 10 minutes later, two more vehicles sped through the group of protesters, one a black sedan that drove south down Pearl and the second a black SUV that drove west down 6th, carrying an individual who was thrown over the vehicle onto the hood after the impact. The individual, identified by the Eugene Police Department as 19 year old Shane Alexander Novak, was flung from the vehicle about 100 feet down the road, where he crawled to the sidewalk and was treated by protest medics before being transported by Eugene Springfield Fire Department to the hospital.
The protest moved from the Federal Building to the Graduate Hotel, owned by Hilton, which historically has rented rooms to ICE agents. As they moved towards the front entrance to the building, protesters left a gap at the door to allow workers and customers to enter and exit safely. After about 20 minutes, the group began to march east down 6th Avenue, back towards the Federal Building.
Late in the evening, the protesters stationed themselves at the intersection of 6th and Pearl. The crowd was calm, and the chanting started to die down. At 7:34 pm, federal authorities declared the gathering an unlawful assembly and, over loudspeakers, ordered the crowd to disperse. The protesters remained in the area, shouting back at the federal agents, which included the Department of Homeland Security, US Customs and Border Protection, and the Homeland Security Special Response Team.
At 7:44 pm, agents rushed out of the federal building from multiple points, setting off flashbangs and brandishing a mixture of pepper ball guns, pepper spray bottles, and AR-15 assault rifles loaded with live rounds. After lining up in formation for a couple of minutes, the agents rushed west on 6th street and tackled two individuals, both minors. During the arrest of the two individuals, agents were seen pointing the AR-15 assault rifles at the heads of protesters gathered to witness the detentions.
Kaya Winchell, a protester, said she is tired of the murder, kidnapping and disappearances at the hands of ICE. Winchell also made a point to mention that climate change has recently taken a back seat in political discourse, which in her view, is bad. She says this is not her first time protesting, she’s been protesting the Trump administration for the last 10 years, including participating in protests at the Federal Building on Jan 30.
Winchell said that Trump’s attack on Iran is “the same evil we’ve seen for some time.” In her view, the “classic regime change card” is used when things are going poorly domestically. She says things would “almost be easier” if we were at a Civil War [referring to the state against the people.] “We still have to follow laws that protect the police, but they don’t need to follow the laws that protect us,” she says. She further stated that it’s not enough for perpetrators to quit their jobs and go back to daily life. She wants to see those individuals go to jail.
John Harbick said he decided to participate in the demonstration because he is witnessing fascism taking over in the United States. Harbick says his grandfather fought on the beaches of Normandy and that his grandfather taught him what Fascism looks like. In his view, Trump is akin to Von Hindenburg, and JD Vance is akin to Hitler. Harbick said he believes that Trump is the Trojan horse by which real Fascism will arrive.
As ICE enforcement actions continue throughout Oregon, one message remains clear: Eugene will not allow business as usual.
