In times of crisis people often turn to faith and, with the crisis that is mass shootings, elementary massacres, and domestic terrorism, it is to no one’s surprise that Eugenians and the organizations the community supports would do the same.
A coalition of faith leaders, community leaders, and the Eugene-Springfield chapter of the NAACP convened on June 26 with around 200 community members in Monroe City Park before a “March Against Fear” to the Federal Courthouse where a rally would take place.
Activists and protesters surround a memorial for the victims of mass shootings in the middle of Monroe City Park on June 26, 2022 before a march on the Federal Courthouse to demand action on gun violence in America. [James Croxton // Double Sided Media]
A memorial to the victims of the Aurora, Colorado mass shooting in 2012, one of 21 mass shootings highlighted before the march. Activists set up 21 chairs to represent each child killed in the Uvalde school shooting last month. [James Croxton // Double Sided Media]
Activists remembered the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, still the deadliest school shooting in American history, as part of a memorial to the victims of recent mass shootings. Since 2012, the United States has suffered over 3,500 mass shootings, according to the Washington Post. [James Croxton // Double Sided Media]
In attendance were galvanized millennials, parents and their children, elders, and furious Generation Zs. Signs decrying the overturning of Roe v. Wade, gun reform, Pride flags, and rage over the current American reality accented the surrounding green grass.
Protest signs carried by activists advocating for greater action on gun violence in America on June 26, 2022. [James Croxton // Double Sided Media]
A gun control advocate holds a sign depicting an AR-15-style rifle during the rally at Monroe City park on [date]. Polling shows that a majority of Americans support at least moderate changes to gun safety laws, but the debate over where, when, and how far gun control policy should go has continued to stir intense debate. [James Croxton // Double Sided Media]
Protesters brought snacks and beverages to distribute to anyone who needed them, especially as early summer temperatures in Eugene rose into the 90s on the day of the march. [James Croxton // Double Sided Media]
Reverend Adam Briddell, Rabbi Emeritus Yitzhak Husbands-Hankin, and Ibrahim Hamide were among several speakers at the park. Prior to marching to the Federal Courthouse, NAACP President Miles Pendleton gave the march’s instructions to those gathered.
Rabbi Emeritus Yitzhak Husbands-Hankin of Temple Beth Israel sings to the crowd gathered at Monroe Park prior to marching on June 26, 2022. [James Croxton // Double Sided Media]
Eugene-Springfield NAACP President Miles Pendleton speaks to the crowd gathered at Monroe Park and lays out the logistics for the march to the Federal Courthouse on June 26, 2022. [James Croxton // Double Sided Media]
With Street Medics Eugene driving block cars in the front and back of the crowd, and an extensive police escort; the march was sounded off by chants of “no more silence, end gun violence.” Various chants were uttered by the marchers as they ascended upon West Broadway.
The chants included “Hey Hey Ho Ho The NRA Has Got To Go;” “Protect our kids, protect our schools, because gun violence ain’t that cool;” and “out of your homes and into the streets” — a Eugene favorite.
Those same chants continued during the one-way march from Monroe City Park to the Federal Courthouse.
Marchers show off their signs as the march winds into the heart of downtown Eugene. Roughly 200 people arrived for the march on June 26, 2022, despite high temperatures. [James Croxton // Double Sided Media]
A protester shares their views on Republican policy during the NAACP-sponsored march for our lives through Eugene on June 26, 2022 while the march continues through downtown. [James Croxton // Double Sided Media]
A young activist leads the crowd in chants and guides them through the city on the way to the Federal Courthouse in Eugene. In recent years, young people have taken the lead on gun safety advocacy, especially following the Parkland High School shooting in 2018. [James Croxton // Double Sided Media]
Protesters march into downtown Eugene on a pre-planned route to the Federal Courthouse on June 26, 2022. [James Croxton // Double Sided Media]
Protesters begin to march through Eugene to call for greater gun safety laws in response to the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. President Biden signed a bipartisan gun safety bill into law on June 25, but the bill has been criticized by many as not going far enough to prevent gun violence. [James Croxton // Double Sided Media]
In the process of marching, several people were met with splashes of water from at least one elderly women on a balcony above, also shooing the march away. In another instance, a man made it known to the EPD escort that he believed his takeout order from Bon Mi on Broadway was more important than why the marchers had gathered and, repeatedly, asked the EPD escort “is this legal? Is this legal?” He then flipped the march off as he ran inside to get his food, leave, and then disappear.
A woman watches from the balcony of her downtown residence after throwing water onto passing marchers on their way to the Federal Courthouse in downtown Eugene on June 26, 2022. According to polls, older Americans are less likely to support gun control legislation than Generation Z and millennials. [James Croxton // Double Sided Media]
The march was overwhelmingly positive and peaceful, though, and around 11:30 a.m., the crowd of a couple hundred had arrived at the courthouse where, at some point prior, graffiti had been applied to the outdoor plaque and surrounding concrete.
Protesters begin to gather in front of the federal courthouse in downtown Eugene, where the one-way march through Eugene would end in another rally with speakers and musicians. [James Croxton // Double Sided Media]
Graffiti at the United States Federal Courthouse in downtown Eugene following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade on June 24, 2022. [James Croxton // Double sided Media]
On the steps of the courthouse, a choir began the rally by starting with a performance followed by a speech by Miles Pendleton. Several more speeches occurred throughout the rally and were interspersed with choir performances.
Around 1:45 p.m., the rally had ended and all those that had marched had to either walk back or wait for transportation offered by the NAACP.
After carrying the flowers through Eugene, protesters laid them on the steps of the federal courthouse to memorialize those lost to mass shooting and gun violence in America. [James Croxton // Double Sided Media]
A choir performed several songs at the end of the march before the crowd that had marched from Monroe Park dispersed for the day. [James Croxton // Double Sided Media]
Considering what had happened to her, Becker-Henske was upset that the NAACP had requested the escort by EPD.
Officers with the Eugene Police Department monitor the march on June 26, 2022 as it passes through a residential neighborhood. A report from USA Today found a total of 1,358 victims of mass shootings between 2006 and 2017. Meanwhile, police in the United States have killed over 1,000 people just this year. [James Croxton // Double Sided Media]
Becker-Henske said that she and Pendleton “met the prior week to discuss logistics and it came to light that working with EPD was their goal.” She also said that “SME promised the NAACP President Miles Pendleton that they would get from Point A to Point B safely and smoothly as possible. Without EPD’s assistance.”
“I really don’t care for [the police escort] at all because of the fact that they’re killing Black people, people of color, with their guns,” she said. “Literally, the officer that PepperBalled us the other night for standing up for women’s reproductive health, and women’s rights, and uterine owners rights, why are you here?”
When asked about the police escort, Pendleton said that “traditionally, with all of our MLK marches, we do it alongside EPD.”
“Certainly in the case of this one, we thought it was good and also, naturally, as this was a response to gun violence and domestic terrorism, we’ve seen a wide range of events happen across the country where similar programs, protests, and demonstrations have been attacked by armed intruders and an insurgence,” he said. “So, we felt it was necessary to get that extra layer of security and protection.”