‘Safety’ a Top Concern During City Council Public Comments
On Feb. 9, the Eugene City Council held the first of its two public monthly meetings and listened to comments from the community on a variety of topics. However, as each speaker concluded, one common theme arose from the community: safety.
Some speakers asked the city’s elected officials to address homelessness. The first speaker, Steve Gilbert, said, “homelessness in Eugene has grown faster than any city in Lane County and nearly every city in the country. Eugene is now known for homelessness.”
Gilbert cited some statistics compiled from a new question included in Lane County’s Health and Human Services point in time survey, which he said “dispelled the myth” that the unhoused “move here for services.”
“That question found that 70% of the people experiencing homelessness here were already residents of Lane County,” Gilbert said.
Gilbert was, specifically, concerned about the safety of houseless individuals around the Highway 99 service hub, which he said, “has drawn in our most vulnerable homeless people directly on a highway with devastating results.”
Due to a high number of recent deaths, Highway 99 has been dubbed “death row” by some. Recently, a local non-profit hosted a workshop after completing a “walking audit” of the area with residents, elected officials, and advocates as part of the city’s Vision Zero Intersection Study.
Gilbert, unfortunately, ran out of time before being able to address his concerns with the council in full.
Kamryn Stringfield spoke next and voiced concern about the council’s continued plans to install automated license plate readers around the city. The city currently has a scheduled work session on Feb. 18 to discuss a plan forward as Eugene Police Chief Chris Skinner maintains that the tool is vital for “fighting crime.”
“Right now with all the oppressive and repressive measures we’re seeing from the federal government, we do not need this technology,” said Stringfield. “I’d like to raise the point that this technology doesn’t actually prevent crime.”
Stringfield added:
“Rather than investing more taxpayer money into a mass surveillance system which is unpopular with the people, unsafe at a time like this, and statistically doesn’t reduce crime, why don’t we focus our resources on programs and services that are popular with the people, actually make us safer, and prevent crime by addressing the conditions that lead people to it.”
Other speakers throughout the evening asked the city council to amend the current request for proposal in developing the city’s new Peer Navigation Alternative Response, claiming it fails to fill the gaps left behind with the loss of CAHOOTS. Additional speakers addressed their concerns over a potential project to build an Amazon shipment center on Highway 99, claiming that the city has not properly looked at the impacts to traffic and safety in that area.
The next speaker was Anna Lardner — a local activist who is currently suing President Trump, the Department of Homeland Security, and Kristi Noem for civil rights violations. She said:
“My name is Anna. My pronouns are she/her. I’m an organizer with Trans Alliance of Lane County.
Last Tuesday, I was one of the protesters who was violently arrested by DHS in addition to an injury to my thumb, which has prevented me from doing dance like I used to doing ground work on the floor. I was refused to have a female officer search me in DHS’s holding cell. I pleaded with them to allow a female officer to search me. They refused. They said there wasn’t one available. I screamed. I said, “Stop hurting me and let a female search me.” After about three to five minutes of this, a female officer magically appeared. This is to underscore the point that DHS lies. They lied to me. They’ve lied to the public. And last Friday, they lied to all of you and to EPD when they characterized the actions at the federal building.
We can expect DHS to lie and be violent and be brutal. Their people are the shock troops of this fascist regime. What we should not have to expect is our local representatives and the police force that is supposed to be protecting us, to parrot those lies, to platform those lies.
It is Black History Month and I want to read an excerpt from Martin Luther King Jr.’s letter from the Birmingham jail in which he responded to eight white religious leaders who had condemned the demonstrations in Birmingham and he said, “You deplore the demonstrations taking place in Birmingham, but your statement, I am sorry to say, fails to express a similar concern for the conditions that brought those demonstrations.”
Last week, after Tuesday, I saw very little ink, pixels, or words spilled about what DHS did to people like me. But after Friday, I saw reams of statements about alleged protester violence, not about wanton federal brutality. Gassing our people, brutalizing protesters, rampaging through that downtown area, snatching children. I saw none of that. I wish tonight that I could just celebrate the proposal that you all passed and that Miss Leech brought into being, but I cannot because this proposal needs to restrain EPD from helping DHS. And please center federal brutality, not the actions of protesters.”
Prior to public comments City Council had unanimously voted to declare a humanitarian crisis due to ICE’s activities in the city. One council member, Councilor Clark, took issue with the rhetoric calling the words “humanitarian crisis” hyperbole.
Another speaker, Jane Johnson, spoke about the personal sacrifices being made to ensure “Eugenians know their rights and are prepared for the violence currently being perpetrated in our communities, and for what is still to come” — a job they said the city isn’t doing.
“Eugene has explicitly been named by the Trump Administration and they’ve made it clear that they plan to accelerate their work,” Johnson said, urging the council to take action to “shield” the community’s most vulnerable and to fund those efforts.
“Do you know what $1,900 could do for our most vulnerable communities right now?” Johnson asked, referring to the exact amount requested and approved by council for Mayor Kaarin Knudson’s overseas travel to Eugene’s sister city in Nepal.
Johnson said:
“Do you know how many families can’t go to work out of fear of being kidnapped and disappeared and therefore can’t afford simple bills like groceries? Eugenians could desperately use $1,900 for groceries, prescriptions, child care, to print know your rights materials. Our most vulnerable community members need you to take action and shield them. And Eugenians like myself need you to take action and be the support and fund the work.”
Many speakers voiced concerns over the city’s response to the federal escalations on Jan. 27 and Jan. 30, including a legal observer who told the council to stop thanking him until they have done their due diligence regarding the issues.
Legal observer Pete Goldlust said:
“Mayor Knudson, my name is Pete Goldlust. I’m here because I’m one of those volunteer legal observers that you made a point to thank when you stood with Governor Kotek recently. I’ve been serving as a legal observer at the federal building for the past year and tonight I’m speaking as a private citizen.
If our city would like to move beyond verbal expressions of support for non-violent activists and take a substantial step towards resisting the federal occupation of our city, here’s something we could do. If we were motivated to defend our immigrant communities, we could adopt a policy like the one Chicago’s Mayor, Brandon Johnson, just ordered.
This includes provisions that if police personnel observe or receive reports of apparent violations of state or local law by federal agents they shall document federal enforcement activities. Ensure that any body camera footage is preserved. Seek to identify and verify the federal supervisory officer on scene. Record any refusal to comply. Complete a report on any violation of state or local laws by federal agents. Immediately summon emergency medical services and render aid to any injured person on the scene. And share aggregated data of violations with the public.
Mayor, council, city manager, wherever you are, I ask that you all thoroughly review the publicly available video of the role that EPD played on the night of Friday, January 30. Please compare and contrast this with Mayor Johnson’s expectations of Chicago’s police department.
Please note the amount and degree of damage that was attributed to the protesters at the federal building here in Eugene. In light of everybody’s intense concern over budget, Mr. Clark, you’ll want to be all over this one. Please request that a thorough accounting of the expenses incurred by EPD operations that night are forthcoming. Consider whether this was a proportional and responsible use of tax dollars. Consider the level of documented violence that’s been mentioned after EPD left and what their role was in that. Until you’ve done all that, mayor and council, I ask that you not thank me again.”
The city has stood firm in its decision to declare the protest on Jan. 30 a riot, even though numerous witness statements say otherwise. Fourteen days after the protest, on Feb. 13, the Federal Bureau of Investigation released four videos from security cameras located at the Old Federal Building.
Those videos show unidentified protesters damaging the building’s windows in three separate events. The videos, which appear to be screen-recordings, offer more questions than answers.
While some individuals are seen wearing respirators, and others holding handmade shields, there are no signs of weapons beyond a skateboard that was thrown against the windows in one video. That action did not appear to result in any damage. Nonetheless, that individual was photographed being detained by the EPD after they entered the scene to separate protesters from the building.
According to Chief Skinner, the EPD did not arrest any individuals related to the “riot,” so, it is unclear if that person was released or turned over to federal authorities.
One thing is certain though: the videos do show protesters damaging windows, however, it is still not clear when all the damage to the windows was made, and there are no videos of protesters breaching the building.
Protesters seen in the videos do not appear to be rioting, either. While individuals appear to be loud, and are seen banging on windows, there are no clear indications that windows were broken with the intent to enter.
Shelly Devine, a protest attendee, conveyed their experience.
“Hi. Last time I spoke on a Monday meeting and my son was sleeping on the couch, not wondering if I was going to make it home, and then the very next night I was getting flashed and gassed by the federal government.
Words that I’m tired of hearing are ‘unprecedented’ and ‘peaceful protest.’ We are nonviolent protesters. It is nonviolent by design. It is a nonviolent resistive tactic and it is meant to be disruptive and we will continue to be disruptive because the point of protest is not for everyone else’s comfort. The goal is collective discomfort.
I want you guys to be aware because it’s new information to me, but there is a direct pipeline from Amazon warehouse to DHS detention center. It is the commerce concentration industrial complex and that is what is happening across the country right now. It is alarming. In January of last year, there were 107 detention centers across the country and by the end of the year, that number grew to 212. So the acting director of ICE, Todd Lions, says ‘we need to get better at treating this like a business, like Amazon Prime, but with human beings.’
So DHS has authority under the supremacy clause of the Constitution to buy property whether the state or local government wants it or not. So they’re doing this in Orlando, Florida. A former Amazon warehouse, 440,000 square feet, now DHS is attempting to buy it. They just bought one in Surprise, Arizona. They spent 70 million in cash to purchase a 418,000 foot warehouse originally designed for Amazon. Five cities in Texas are getting it. There’s a list. They’re looking in Seattle. They’re looking in Merrillville, Indiana near Baltimore and Merrimack, New Hampshire. Like, there’s an extensive list of cities where this is happening. So, it’s only a private owner that refuses to sell to the federal government that might stop it.
But it’s our local, it’s, it’s permitting stuff. So we need to stop this because we’re inviting a future potential concentration camp to be in Eugene. So this is not hyperbole. This is happening. Councilman Clark, your remarks tonight highlight a lack of humanity, do not meet the moment, further illustrate your adherence to white supremacy culture, and we look forward to voting you out next election.”
During the Police Commission meeting on Feb. 12, Chief Skinner received praise for his department’s efforts on Jan. 30. He also announced that he will be working with the Federal Protection Service to install a fence around the building’s perimeter, an action he says will separate the “peaceful protesters” from individuals with other intentions.
