Monday, Sept. 28
Black Unity’s “All Power to the People” march demanding justice for Breonna Taylor and Michael Williams started at University Park around 6 p.m.
The march, which included over 100 people, started just before 7 p.m. and marched past the University of Oregon campus.
The crowd had grown to over 200 people by 9 p.m. and approximately 15 minutes after Eugene Police Department began following the march at a distance, two lifted pickup trucks — one without a license plate, a routine counter-protester trait — blocked the protest’s route.
One of the men driving identified themselves as “hospital security” — for nearby PeaceHealth. However, the protesters remained skeptical and they eventually drove away.
By 9:30 p.m., the march had continued and then shifted into complete silence, with flashlights out, for a few minutes before the chants resumed as they walked back to where they started.
The protest ended around 10:20 p.m. with BU’s Tyshawn Ford saying that they’d be back the next night.
Tuesday, Sept. 29
As promised, BU returned to University Park on Tuesday night for the “If We Don’t Get No Justice, Y’all Don’t Get No Peace” march.
Although around 50 people — including the SolidariTEA, — had arrived by the posted 6 p.m. start time, BU leadership didn’t arrive until at least half an hour later.
Having grown to at least 150 people, the march wound through university-area streets well into the evening banging pots and pans chanting “Wake up, motherfucker, wake up!”
Wednesday, Sept. 30
On the 101st anniversary of The Elaine Massacre — when hundreds of Black sharecroppers were murdered in Elaine, Arkansas by a group of White men including some affiliated with local lawn enforcement — BU returned to the streets of Springfield starting at the city’s library at 6 p.m.
Around 30 counter-protesters were staged across the intersection well before the protest was set to begin and before BU leadership arrived at around 6:30 p.m.
The march began around 7:15 p.m., with counter-protesters immediately following the group.
About 10 minutes later, a confrontation in the back of the group occurred when counter-protesters attempted to block protest-support vehicles from getting through until Springfield police officers arrived to tell them to back away from the cars.
Another 10 minutes into the march, BU leader Jazmine Delilah, another protester and two others in a support vehicle were bear maced by an individual identified as Rob Davis, the boyfriend of known counter-protester Geena Shipman. Shipman, also in attendance, was arrested for assault in the fourth degree for shoving a protester at a previous protest, according to SPD.
Just before 8 p.m., the march resumed as counter-protesters followed while chanting “fuck George Soros” — Soros being a billionaire investor known for funding democratic cause tied to multiple anti-semitic far-right conspiracy theories.
Once the protesters got back to the library around 9 p.m., both groups went to their sides of the intersection and spewed insults at each other.
Many of the protesters laid on the ground, simulating Breonna Taylor asleep when three Louisville police officers killed her. “Don’t go to sleep tonight,” Shipman, the counter-protester, yelled towards them.
Another counter-protester implied that one of BU’s leaders didn’t have any more than a sixth grade education, to which he replied, “good thing I’m in college, sir!”
At 9:15 p.m, the protest ended, as many of those that had gathered had already left.
Melanie Henshaw contributed reporting to this story
Stare-downs occur throughout the night between protesters and counter-protesters. Black Unity held a march for the anniversary of the Elaine Massacre on Wednesday night, Sept. 30, 2020, in Springfield, Ore. Springfield Police escorted the peaceful march and separated confrontation between protesters and counter-protesters. (Kevin Wang/Daily Emerald)
