‘Youth Against ICE’ Protest in Eugene Declared Riot, Both EPD and SPD Arrive to Rescue Understaffed DHS

On Jan. 30, community members in both Eugene and Springfield attended rallies to demand that ICE be out of Lane County, in solidarity with the nationwide general strike that day. In Eugene, a riot was declared.

At 12 p.m., nearly 100 people began to arrive at the Old Federal Building in Eugene for the “Youth Against ICE” protest scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. The protest continued throughout the afternoon and evening peacefully as protesters waved signs, chanted, and received honks of support from passing motorists.

Between 300 and 500 people attended the protest at its peak. Around 3 p.m., protesters began to gather in front of the building’s main entrance. The Daily Emerald reported that at least one person kicked a window while others threw eggs at the building. 

Federal officers were inside the building in full tactical gear, staged and ready, but had not interacted with protesters up to that point.

Nearly three hours later, flash bangs were deployed by DHS in an effort to clear the courtyard. Federal officers still had yet to advance out of the building.

The Eugene Police Department’s Mobile Response Team was ready, having staged at 6th and Pearl, and was blocking traffic and watching from above with drones. 

EPD declared a riot around 6 p.m. and asked residents to avoid the area. Members of EPD’s MRT formed a perimeter with aid from the Springfield Police Department and attempted to disperse protesters away from the building.

The EPD’s numerous declarations to the crowd via its long-range acoustic device, or LRAD, seemed to have little effect as protesters continued to stand their ground despite threats of chemical munitions and less-lethal munitions. 

At 6:38 p.m., the city updated its announcement online and said that there “were breaches in entry points” and that “protesters had breached the building and went inside.” 

The breach of entry remains unconfirmed by the countless media and news outlets present at the building that afternoon.

“Eugene’s Police presence is an attempt to keep things de-escalated,” the department’s public information director, Melinda McLaughlin, said.

By 7 p.m., the peaceful protest was still ongoing and both the EPD, with the aid of officers from the Springfield Police Department, remained in a standoff with protesters, having not deployed any less-lethal or chemical munitions.

Both departments worked to clear the streets of protesters at 7:23 p.m. At the same time, officers with both the Federal Protective Service and Customs and Border Patrol stormed out of the building and deployed flash bangs, pepper spray, and tear gas toward the courtyard and the sidewalks on both sides of Pearl and 7th. The EPD then continued to circle the property to clear protesters, but eventually left the area to be controlled by DHS.

KVAL’s on-air reporter, Gabrielle Bowman was reporting live from across the street when they were hit with the fumes of chemical munitions, forcing her to flee and seek aid from a protest medic.

Staff from the Eugene Weekly stayed on-scene providing updates throughout the entire evening, noting that protesters were standing at the front entrance at 11 p.m., demanding the release of protesters being held inside. The outlet reported that those protesters were released shortly thereafter at 11:05 p.m.

Just Go ‘Across The Street’

Following the Jan. 27 protest, DHS escalation, and detainments, Eugene Mayor Kaarin Knudson addressed the following day’s public city council work session. She said, in full:

“I just want to make a brief statement given the real concerns that are in our community right now and some of the difficulties that we’re facing locally and as a country. 

So, I will just say that it has been a difficult and painful past couple of weeks for our community as people struggle to make sense of the very visible and unconscionable violence by federal agencies in other communities that has resulted in people being, being shot and killed on the streets and also the continued concern for the persecution of neighbors, our own neighbors, neighbors across this country due to the trajectory of federal actions. 

As I said at a vigil organized by our local healthcare workers last night for Alex Pretti, our community is going to continue to stand together in this difficult time. And we are going to continue to work towards the safety and belonging of everyone in this community. And these circumstances put us under particularly difficult types of pressure. 

I want to say that as we continue to work towards lasting change and there are efforts underway at the state level, at the federal level, also locally, we also have to recommit to keeping one another safe. We are dealing with a federal administration that seems very focused on intimidation and retribution and retaliation in their actions.

I will be meeting with our police chief, our independent police auditor, council leadership, executive leadership at the city to discuss the additional steps that we can take to address the reckless actions of federal agencies in our communities. 

We very much want for people here to feel and to be safe. I also want to ask our community again to stand together, to recommit to peaceful protest and community engagement, and to remain calm. It is incredibly important that we remember that moments like last night where hundreds and hundreds of people were gathered to honor the life of a community member, an ICU nurse in Minneapolis, Alex Pretti, who was killed, that we can protest effectively and peacefully. And it’s really important that we take care of each other and stand together in this work. 

I also want to ask that while temperatures remain high over these coming days and we’re gathering more information about what has been happening locally that any peaceful protests that are happening at the federal building near that site if they can be across the street and distant from that property physically visible to our community unified in voice and peaceful. I have real concern for engagements between different agencies and members of our community and I want people to be safe. So that is a request I have for our community. 

Everyone has the right to peaceful protest and to due process personal safety. I just want you to know that your community is very aware of what has been happening. Your leaders are very aware and we’re concerned for everyone’s safety and we are trying to deescalate situations where we do not have a partner as focused on that same concern.”

In response to the statement, DSM sent the following list of questions to the mayor on Friday morning, notably asking what difference being across the street on the sidewalk would do.  Our questions:

“1. The remarks by Mayor Knudson did not include any specific mention of less-lethal and/or chemical weapons being deployed. Is there a reason this major escalation by DHS in response to a candlelight vigil wasn’t directly mentioned? 

2. Mayor Knudson said during her remarks that ‘I also want to ask our community to, again, stand together, to recommit to peaceful protest and community engagement, and to remain calm” before asking that, “any peaceful protests that are happening at the Federal Building near that site, if they can be across the street and distant from that property…’ 

For what reason(s) does Mayor Knudson believe standing on the sidewalk across the street means DHS will not respond? (I would highlight that DHS continued to tear gas attendees who had already been forced off of Federal Property). 

2a. What forms of protests does Mayor Knudson consider not to be peaceful? 

2b. Did Mayor Knudson witness non-peaceful forms of protest on. Jan. 27? If so, what actions specifically? 

2c. Is Mayor Knudson aware that Customs and Border Protection has broader authority than the Federal Protective Service? 

3. What efforts did the City of Eugene take to de-escalate the incidents between civilians and “a partner that does not share the same concern” regarding personal safety, the right to peacefully protest, and due process, on Tuesday?

4. How does the City of Eugene plan to protect members of the press during protests? As of this morning, there were no fewer than nine journalists — One UO SOJC professor, one from Double Sided Media, one from The Torch, four from Daily Emerald, and two from Eugene Weekly — struck or affected by DHS’ targeted dispersal of the courtyard.” 

DSM has not received a response from the mayor’s office as of publication.

What Chief Skinner Says

In response to what had transpired, Eugene’s police chief, Chris Skinner, took the opportunity to control the narrative about his police department’s actions. 

During his videoed remarks, EPD Chief Skinner justified the department’s presence as a form of de-escalation to protect the undersourced federal building and “civilian staff” inside.

Skinner explained that EPD’s involvement at the federal building has largely been “limited” in recent weeks. He stated that they are “being careful” about extending resources to protect the building. Though the federal government has its own resources to protect the property, Chief Skinner alleged that DHS was understaffed on Friday and that the EPD was available to provide “a barrier” between protesters and the property.

Skinner said that, though the City of Eugene supports the right to protest and free speech, the events of Friday had devolved into something criminal. 

“Unfortunately, tonight, those demonstrations and protests went a little bit far. And as we sat back and watched things unfold at the federal building, I became really concerned as the chief of police of this community,” Chief Skinner said. “When I think about community care taking, the safety of this community, I became really concerned when I saw people starting to gather at the federal court or federal building. And then when we started to see windows being broken and breached, it was starting to get to a place where it was moving out of the peaceful realm.”

“We had, at one point, a report that somebody or several individuals had made it inside the building.” However, Skinner noted that he “can’t confirm that.”

Ultimately, though, Skinner said that the riot was declared after the windows were broken at the building, producing holes he alleged were “large enough for people to fit through,” and at that point felt it was important to intervene to prevent “deadly confrontations” between civilians and federal officers inside.

Skinner further said the department did not use munitions on the crowd and was successful in de-escalating the scene before federal backup resources from Portland arrived. He added that, upon their arrival, federal officers formulated a plan to take over the barrier of defense using chemical munitions on the crowd that included tear gas, pepper balls and spray, and flash bangs. 

Nonetheless, he said that once the federal officers secured the area, EPD left the scene and would remain vigilant throughout the rest of the night to keep an eye on suspicious activity and to protect businesses downtown. 

“We’re gonna be in that area for the rest of the evening looking for suspicious behavior and any other behavior that might be damaging to our buildings and our businesses downtown will take appropriate action,” he said. “There will not be any tolerance for that.”

But the big takeaway from Chief Skinner’s remarks was how upset he was that a show at the Hult Center for the Performing Arts nearly had to be canceled.

Chief Skinner expressed that he was  “super sad” that a “fun night at the Hult Center” was impacted by the smoke and gas from the nearby protest after a protester entered the Hult’s lobby seeking refuge from the munitions.

EW’s reporting does confirm that an entire window was broken at the building, but reports of a breach are still unconfirmed at this time. 

The EPD made no arrests, according to Chief Skinner. It’s unknown at this time if anyone was detained by DHS or injured.