Questions Remain as Protest Continues Through Lane County Fair’s Final Day

Protests against the Lane County Republicans’ selling “Alligator Alcatraz” t-shirts at this year’s Lane County Fair resumed at noon on July 27, one day after they began.

This time, many signs, including at least two that read “Lane County Republicans are profiting off hate speech,” were affixed to the metal crowd barriers set up by the Eugene Police Department for a makeshift “Free Speech Zone.” Some of the protesters stood holding signs such as “Fuck Deportation Camps/Fuck Alligator Alcatraz” and “Jesus Wouldn’t Cage Kids” within it while others were near the fair entrance passing out red “love hearts” with safety pins to attach to clothing. 

In front of the Republicans’ booth inside the fair, two protesters, wearing their red hearts, stood. One held a sign with a photograph of the t-shirt circled with a line through it. Above it read, “This is racist” and “it’s here.” 

Notably, nearly every person associated with the booth wore their own “Alligator Alcatraz” t-shirt.

The protest—which, at one point, included one fair employee—ended around 7 p.m.

Unanswered Questions 

Online condemnation of the Republicans’ selling of the t-shirt, and the county’s approval of such, has continued to grow as many community members felt let down by both the county and fair’s identical public statements. 

In the Eugene & Springfield Oregon Area Bulletin Board on Facebook, the former candidate for Eugene mayor, Thomas Hiura, wrote: 

“I’ve known Devon Ashbridge for 15 years, and worked with her on leadership camps. Her statement here falls incredibly short.

Serious question. Under the parameters cited, would the county have an obligation to allow the unfettered operation of a booth called ‘Lane County Nazis,’ or ‘Pro-Genocide Racists of Eugene’? She is literally saying any image can be sold, no matter what. The idea that the county is powerless to stop it is a lie.”

The comments on Reddit shared the same sentiment. Several community members openly wondered if publicly known hate groups would be able to rent a booth in future fairs. 

Accordingly, Double Sided Media has done the following in an attempt to answer these questions: 

• DSM has asked both the County and Lane Event Center/Lane County Fair Public Information Officers to show us where “public facilities” are mentioned in the Oregon Constitution as per the two identical statements. According to our review of the 2024 Edition, there is no mention of “Public Facilities” and only one, unrelated, mention of “public buildings.” 
• DSM has filed a public records request to obtain the fair’s contract with the Lane Events Center. 
• DSM has also sent follow-up emails, directly asking both the County and the Lane Event Center if hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, Goyim Defense League, or the Proud Boys would be permitted to rent a booth. 

As of publishing, all three have not been responded to.