Friday, Sept. 4 

Private individuals circulated a flyer for a not-widely-promoted antiracist pop-up protest at the Wayne Morse Free Speech Plaza at 6 p.m.

Few people showed up initially. However, by 9:30 p.m., counter-protesters — including Alan Swinney, who is known for instigating violence at protests in the Pacific Northwest — arrived at the event, greatly outnumbering the protesters.

The counter-protesters, mostly armed with paintball guns, left the area around 10 p.m. after more protesters arrived with rifles. 

Saturday, Sept. 5

BIPOC Liberation Collective — along with many other local anti-racist groups like Lane County Mutual Aid, CAHOOTS and Black Thistle Street Aid, among others — hosted a weekend-long “Imagine a Better World” teach-in at Monroe Park in Eugene starting at 2 p.m. 

On the first night, the crowd of about 100 listened to speeches, live music and participated in a “Reparations Raffle.” The event continued past 8 p.m.

Sunday, Sept. 6

The teach-in continued the next day at Monroe Park starting at 1 p.m. Those gathered participated in workshops on labor organizing and street medic training, among other lessons and workshops, until around 8 p.m.  

Two-and-a-half miles away at University Park, the bulletproof-vest-clad Black Unity leadership held a “Get Out of Your Home and Into the Streets” protest starting at 7 p.m. The protest initially attracted a crowd of about 70 people. 

By the end of the protest and march around 9:30 p.m., the crowd added another 20 to 30 people from their homes. 

Tuesday, Sept. 8

The Springfield Alliance of Equity and Respect, Escudo Latino and City Wide Unión de Activistas hosted a “Rally for Equity, Inclusion and Accountability” at Springfield City Hall. Organizers scheduled the event for 5:30 p.m., but after smoke from the Holiday Farm fire —  which grew to over 100,000 acres outside of Springfield — began choking Lane County, organizers postponed the event for a future date.