Police declared a riot Friday in response to an hours-long protest at the Federal Building in downtown Eugene that included windows being broken at the building.
Protesters “breached the building and went inside,” the Eugene police said in a statement. Federal officers reportedly used tear gas to try to prevent demonstrators from entering the building.
Eugene police Chief Chris Skinner said his department responded to the scene when the actions of some protesters began clearly “moving out of the peaceful realm and into riot behavior.”
He added there weren’t many federal officers at the building, and that support staff in the building were afraid.
Police created a barrier between protesters and the building, and Skinner said officers were “successful” in de-escalating the situation and that they used no munitions.
The protest at the building, at 211 E. 7th Avenue, started around noon and soon caused “heavy congestion” from 6th Avenue to 7th Avenue between Oak and Ferry streets, causing vehicle traffic to back up, police said. Demonstrators carried signs and called on federal immigration actions to end across the country.
Protesters had been coming out to the Eugene Federal Building all week in the wake of a second person this month being shot to death in Minneapolis by federal officers. Activists had called a nationwide strike for Friday to support ending funding of federal immigration enforcement.
On Friday, there was also a separate protest at City Hall in Springfield. OPB reported it included a “tense moment” when armed counter-protesters arrived on the scene but that the situation remained peaceful.
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