Eugene sees largest protest in recent memory, businesses looted
Unrest –
On May 29, a peaceful demonstration began at the Federal Courthouse to protest the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis Police officer on May 25.
It moved to the intersection of 7th and Washington Ave. where a myriad of dumpsters, construction equipment, picnic tables and even oil drums from behind Jiffy Lube were set ablaze.
Completely blocking the intersection, several other fires were set along Washington Ave.
Around midnight, the generally peaceful protest of a few hundred people, aside from some scattered interpersonal fighting, turned destructive when protestors began targeting surrounding businesses.
Five Guys, Jimmy John’s, Starbucks and the Sprint store across the street saw most — if not all — of their windows smashed.
Both Sprint and Starbucks were looted. The latter had a small fire inside.
Around 12:30 a.m., the Eugene Police Department formed a line on Washington Ave. about two blocks east of the intersection and deployed tear gas. The crowd largely dispersed but a large group stayed behind.
The remaining protestors then began to parade toward Kesey Square.
They dispersed around Broadway Ave. after EPD deployed SWAT and used tear gas and projectiles.
#BLM Protest –
Sunday, May 31, the official Black Lives Matter protest — organized by siblings Madeliene and Spencer Smith — began at the Federal Courthouse at 1 p.m. with an estimated 7,000 to 10,000 people in attendance, according to EPD.
Speakers at the podium included the Smiths, Eugene NAACP President Ibraham Coulibaly and Eugene attorney Jessica Brown.
About an hour later, the mass of sign-wielding people paraded across the Ferry Street Bridge and into Alton Baker Park where another podium was set up in front of the picnic shelters.
There, speakers including Eugene Mayor Lucy Vinis, Senator James Manning, City Council member Greg Evans and former Associated Students of the University of Oregon President Sabinna Pierre gave impassioned speeches.
After the gathering at the park, various groups splintered off downtown to hold their own gatherings.
A number of incidents were reported throughout the following hours until the downtown curfew took effect at 9 p.m. Then, many dispersed and went home. Others stayed and protested — mostly peaceful — next to Whole Foods and in nearby areas of downtown. These were eventually — excessively — forced to disperse late in the evening in events described in our editorial.
