I went to hear various people speak about pesticide and herbicide sprayings within Lane County at Kesey Square in Eugene on Friday, May 30. After people spoke, one of the co-organizers of the event, Ian Van Ornum, began to water plants using a pesticide container.
The Constitution protects actions that symbolically express a viewpoint. Examples of such symbolic forms of speech include wearing masks and costumes or holding a candlelight vigil.
A plain-clothes officer noticed Ian’s action and proceeded to use brutal force pulling Ian across Willamette from the southwest corner of Broadway to the northwest corner. At this corner, more than a dozen police officers descended and surrounded Ian where an officer violently twisted Ian’s arm behind his back. In addition, Ian was struck by an officer at least once and had his hair pulled. The violent behavior of the police continued, but culminated when Ian was Tasered more than once by a police officer.
Police already have numerous weapons such as chemical weapons, asps, batons, guns, rubber bullets, voice control and physical restraints. Aren’t there MANY better uses for our limited tax dollars than another violent weapon to be used against citizens? Let’s support better training and oversight for police, rather than the electrocution of our citizens.
Planet Glassberg
Eugene