It’s been a while since the Eugene Police Department has been called out by Amnesty International.
Back in 1997, EPD sprayed tree-climbing protesters with so much pepper spray that they had to borrow cans from Springfield and Lane County. The police cut open the pants of one of the treesitters, and sprayed his anus and genitals, an act Amnesty International called “torture.” The city later settled a lawsuit over the incident for $30,000 and developed new guidelines for its use of pepper spray back in 2000.
Video by Tim Lewis/PictureEugene
Now Register-Guard reporter Adam Duvernay’s video of EPD tossing tear gas at RG reporters, shouting “it doesn’t matter” at reporters identifying themselves as press and striking Eugene Weekly reporter Henry Houston in the chest with a tear gas canister while he also identified himself as a journalist, appears as part of a new report by Amnesty International.
The report, “The World is Watching: Mass Violations by U.S. Police of Black Lives Matter Protesters’ Rights,” delves into how, despite the fact that Black Lives Matter protest arose in response to police brutality against people of color, those peaceful protests have been met with “tear gas, pepper spray, batons, kinetic impact projectiles, and flash grenades — in many cases with little or no warning.”
It says:
“This newest research documents how law enforcement responded to protests about the use of deadly force with shocking amounts of excessive force against protesters and shows that there has been a disturbing lack of progress over the past five years in ensuring police officers use deadly force only when there is an imminent risk of death or serious injury to themselves or others. Amnesty International USA recorded 125 separate incidents of police violence against protesters, in 40 States and D.C., between May 26 and June 5, 2020. The report chronicles the stories of more than 50 people in cities across the U.S. affected by police violence as Black Lives Matter has grown into the largest social movement in U.S. history. The report is the most comprehensive human rights analysis of police violence against protesters to date.”
You can find the Amnesty International map of incidents of police violence here.
Since the report spans from May 26 to June 5, the latest acts of law enforcement violence in Springfield and Portland are not included.
The report looks at how police went after peaceful protesters, “singled out journalists and legal observers,” and “targeted medical volunteers that attended protests across the country to support the health and medical needs of the protesters.”
According to the report’s executive summary, “More than 1,000 people are killed each year by police in the USA; because the U.S. government does not collect data on these deaths, the exact number of people killed by police annually is unknown. The data that does exist shows that Black people are disproportionately impacted by police killings.”
The report says that “while Black people represent 13.2 percent of the U.S. population, they represent 24.2 percent of deaths from police use of firearms.”
It points out that in the five years since Amnesty’s last report on police violence, “Deadly Force,” released after Michael Brown, an 18-year-old Black teenager, was killed by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, “there has been a disturbing lack of progress over the past five years in ensuring that police officers use lethal force only when there is an imminent risk of death or serious injury to themselves or others.”
A Note From the Publisher
Dear Readers,
The last two years have been some of the hardest in Eugene Weekly’s 43 years. There were moments when keeping the paper alive felt uncertain. And yet, here we are — still publishing, still investigating, still showing up every week.
That’s because of you!
Not just because of financial support (though that matters enormously), but because of the emails, notes, conversations, encouragement and ideas you shared along the way. You reminded us why this paper exists and who it’s for.
Listening to readers has always been at the heart of Eugene Weekly. This year, that meant launching our popular weekly Activist Alert column, after many of you told us there was no single, reliable place to find information about rallies, meetings and ways to get involved. You asked. We responded.
We’ve also continued to deepen the coverage that sets Eugene Weekly apart, including our in-depth reporting on local real estate development through Bricks & Mortar — digging into what’s being built, who’s behind it and how those decisions shape our community.
And, of course, we’ve continued to bring you the stories and features many of you depend on: investigations and local government reporting, arts and culture coverage, sudoku and crossword puzzles, Savage Love, and our extensive community events calendar. We feature award-winning stories by University of Oregon student reporters getting real world journalism experience. All free. In print and online.
None of this happens by accident. It happens because readers step up and say: this matters.
As we head into a new year, please consider supporting Eugene Weekly if you’re able. Every dollar helps keep us digging, questioning, celebrating — and yes, occasionally annoying exactly the right people. We consider that a public service.
Thank you for standing with us!
Publisher
Eugene Weekly
P.S. If you’d like to talk about supporting EW, I’d love to hear from you!
jody@eugeneweekly.com
(541) 484-0519
Comments are closed.