“The First Amendment guarantees freedoms concerning religion, expression, assembly, and the right to petition. It forbids Congress from both promoting one religion over others and also restricting an individual’s religious practices. It guarantees freedom of expression by prohibiting Congress from restricting the press or the rights of individuals to speak freely. It also guarantees the right of citizens to assemble peaceably and to petition their government.”
Journalists — and the First Amendment itself — are under attack throughout the United States amidst nationwide protests and riots following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis by a city police officer.
At the time of this writing, there had been 101 recorded instances of law enforcement being violent toward journalists.
In Minneapolis, the police arrested an entire CNN crew without cause and threatened others. In Baltimore, the media were shot at with pepper bullets. Independent photojournalist Linda Tirado is permanently blind in one eye after being shot with what she believes was a rubber bullet. In Louisville, Kentucky, the police shot pepper bullets directly at a news crew. In Washington D.C., even journalists from Australia are being assaulted by the police.
Eugene, apparently, isn’t exempt from this.
Later in the evening on Sunday, May 31 — the day of the peaceful Black Lives Matter protest in downtown Eugene — the Eugene Police Department dispersed several lingering peaceful gatherings.
At 10:57, just three minutes before it went into effect, EPD announced an 11:00 p.m. city-wide curfew to protestors through their vehicles. Their Facebook page didn’t announce the curfew until 11:02 p.m. The City of Eugene’s page didn’t until 11:08 p.m.
As captured on a Facebook live stream by Tre Stewart, a local DJ at The Drake, EPD began shooting tear gas and rubber projectiles at peaceful protestors walking down the street and even private citizens watching from their private balconies.
Photographs posted later of tear gas canisters show that some are dated as far back as 2008. It is alleged that tear gas expires after five years and that expired tear gas breaks down into dangerous chemicals.
The same night, a local reporter was shot at with tear gas and pepperballs by EPD while screaming “I’m a journalist!” prompting its Editor-in-Chief to issue a tweet directed at Police Chief Chris Skinner and the EPD at-large.
In a statement, the department stated that “there is no way to discern whether or not someone is credentialed media if they are embedded or mixed in with a large group violating curfew.”
So, essentially, it’s our, the media’s, fault if we are subjected to law enforcement’s crowd-control measures.
We at The Torch disagree with that insinuation and condemn the Eugene Police Department’s actions that evening. Furthermore, we stand in solidarity with every single news organization and journalist — nationwide and around the world — facing the threat of law enforcement who disregard the First Amendment.
The Eugene Police Department declined to give us an interview.
