At 10 am on April 15, Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) reported that all lanes of Interstate 5 southbound were closed at the intersection of Eugene-Springfield Highway I-105 until further notice.

Dan McGuire, who was on the scene of the protest, tells Eugene Weekly it appeared to be a protest for Palestine. He says that Oregon State Police and Eugene Police Department were present as well as a SWAT team.  “It was the most police presence I have ever seen at a protest,” McGuire says.

April 15 is an international day of action — shut it down for Palestine.

EPD Spokesperson Melinda McLaughlin says EPD was called at 9:40 am to assist OSP.  

A press release from OSP says “dozens of people were arrested for disorderly conduct.” And that “at least one individual was discovered to be in possession of a firearm.”  Southbound lanes were open by 12:15 pm, but OSP says “law enforcement remains on the scene while observers continue to gather along the highway.”

The release concludes with the statement: “At this time, future comments will be limited due to the ongoing criminal investigations.”

Oregon State Police sent an update April 16 saying that “52 people were arrested for disorderly conduct. Two individuals were additionally charged with conspiracy and theft.”

An April 15  post from Stop the Sweeps Eugene on the protest reads:

Today Eugene shut down I5 for over an hour in solidarity with the international A15 day of action for a free Palestine! @a15actions

We know that the US government is complicit in this genocide. We know the US will not stop this genocide, and so we have to stop it ourselves. We are done being passive agents and know that it is time to escalate our actions to participate in a global resistance movement for a free Palestine!

Isr@ale is the right arm of the United States imperialist war machine. What we are seeing in Palestine now is the same violent, genocidal land theft that has been carried out on indigenous people all over the world since the dawn of colonization. We will no longer be complicit.

Over 50 people were arrested and 8 cars impounded. Please donate to our car impound fund:

@freethecars
@eugenebailfund