All movement is prohibited in downtown Eugene Saturday night from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. The city of Eugene enacted a curfew in response to a protest in Eugene Friday night against the police killing of George Floyd, which started as a peaceful demonstration but ended with property damage and looting.
Sarah Medary, Eugene’s city manager pro tem, declared an emergency Saturday afternoon and signed the temporary curfew into effect, according to a city press release.
The curfew means that people are not allowed to travel in any public street or place between High Street and Monroe Street and between 13th Avenue and 4th Avenue. All methods of transportation, including walking, driving and biking, are prohibited.
Violating the curfew, according to the press release, is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $500 and/or up to 100 days in jail.
“The curfew does not apply to people seeking emergency care, fleeing dangerous circumstances, sheltering in place, traveling to and from employment or making commercial deliveries,” the release said.
The protest Friday night began peacefully, but as the night wore on, people in the crowd broke windows and stole items from storefronts such as Five Guys, Starbucks and Jimmy John’s. Eugene police remained largely uninvolved until 1:30 a.m., when officers in riot gear tear gassed protesters on Broadway Street.
The Eugene Mayor Lucy Vinis, Springfield Mayor Christine Lundberg and Lane County Commissioner Heather Buch released a joint statement Saturday, saying that, while people are rightfully angry, they do not accept the “destructive acts that took place last night in downtown Eugene.”
A Black Lives Matter rally will be held Sunday at 1 p.m., beginning at the Wayne L. Morse Federal Courthouse in Eugene. The organizers were not involved in the Friday night protest, organizer Madeliene Smith wrote in a Facebook post on the event page, saying that the rally is intended to be nonviolent.
This story was updated shortly after publishing to include exceptions to the curfew.
