By Boris Wiedenfeld-Needham
The Eugene Police Department called the Friday, Jan. 30, protest a “riot.” This blatant and obvious mischaracterization is an attempt to distract from the real perpetrators of violence that night — the federal agents who aimed AR-15 style rifles at innocents and attacked them with excessive chemical munitions and projectiles.
I’m one of the many individuals who has marched in Eugene’s streets and demonstrated at the old Federal Building several times since Donald Trump took office for a second time. Just this last month, demonstrators watched as a group of at least five Department of Homeland Security officers, armed with pepper ball guns and pepper spray, ganged up to arrest a young woman who was standing alone while setting up anti-ICE lawn signs across the street from the building. DHS Federal Protective Services Commander William Turner, who was wielding a pepper ball gun, told another protester nearby “you’re next” while arresting the young woman.
Their objective is clear: Intimidate those voicing dissent into silence. Make them too afraid to speak out against these atrocities. Suppress free speech.
As someone who has been present for many of these demonstrations, I took away an interesting observation from this last week. Any time the feds have not been present, the protests remain uneventful. However, whenever DHS/Immigration and Customs Enforcement/Customs and Border Protection are present, things take a turn.
While protesters gathered in the courtyard of the Federal Building to sign wave, chant demands for ICE to get out of Lane County and create a memorial (for Keith Porter, Alex Pretti, Renee Good, Herber Sanchez, Victor Manuel Diaz, Parady LA, Geraldo Lunas Campos, Luis Gustavo Nunez Caceres, Luis Beltan Yanez-Cruz, and a long list of others who have died at the hands of ICE), the federal agents inside the building responded by suiting up in riot gear. They lined up canisters of tear gas and stun grenades on the front desk of the lobby for protesters to see, armed themselves with lethal and non-lethal weapons alike, and even one DHS FPS officer with an AR-15 style rifle continually raised his weapon towards protesters at the window. We all know how the night ended — with feds shooting off chemical munitions at protesters and gassing several blocks of downtown Eugene.
The gassing continued into the weekend, we even watched one of the DHS agents stomp and kick a Mexican national flag while gassing more protesters (thanks Eugene Weekly for capturing this).
In response to these events, we heard from local and state leaders who instructed individuals to stop protesting at the Federal Building. They want us to practice our First Amendment rights, but not in a way that puts any pressure on the violent ICE goons kidnapping and killing our community members.
They want us to be more polite to those that uphold the fascist regime in the White House. They want us to cater to their comfort at the expense of our most vulnerable communities.
These words of MLK Jr. echo loudly:
“I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen’s councilor or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to ‘order’ than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: ‘I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action’; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man’s freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a ‘more convenient season.’ Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.”
I call on the Eugene City Council and the Eugene police to look to the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights, and take action (stern words of disapproval do not count) to preserve our democracy.
And to my fellow community members:
1) Do not fall for this performative condemnation. Our institutional leaders are attempting to give the public just enough response that accountability efforts lose steam before any meaningful change occurs. This risks allies being tricked to switch sides and even defend the oppressor, emboldening them to become more violent and violate more civil rights than before. Keep the pressure increasing — our institutions aren’t going to do it for us.
2) “Nonviolent” does not equal “polite.” Assess your comfort level and respect others’. We are never going to agree on the best method. Argue in private if you must; be united in public spaces. Do not further embolden the abusers. Do not be so quick to blame the dead and the abused.
If showing up to the Federal Building where ICE operates isn’t your jam, you can help build whistle kits; keep an eye out for ICE in your community and report sightings to PIRC (888-622-1510); or donate to one of the many groups supporting our vulnerable community members directly including Rapid Response Lane County, Escudo Latino, Oregon Worker Relief, Rural Organizing Project, Plaza de Nuestra Comunidad, and Oregon Community Asylum Network. Visit EugeneTogetherStrong.org for more ways to participate.
Whatever you do, don’t sit quietly while our country goes up in flames.
Boris Wiedenfeld-Needham is spokesperson on behalf of 50501 Eugene.