The Civil Liberties Defense Center, a nonprofit that provides legal support to political movements, condemned Eugene police’s use of force against protesters and the city’s use of curfews to stifle them in a statement issued Friday.
“We believe that the curfews, especially for Eugene, are overly broad and overly restrictive on people’s first amendment rights, which is a constitutional violation,” CLDC Director Lauren Regan told the Emerald.
The City of Eugene began implementing curfews after issuing a state of emergency in response to a protest that included property destruction and looting last Friday. Starting on Saturday through Tuesday morning, officials in Eugene used curfews to curb protesting and allow the Eugene Police Department to disperse crowds — which were protesting the police — with force.
Regan said the U.S. Constitution only allows states to use the “least restrictive means” if they are going to put any parameters on the First Amendment. For the largely peaceful protests occurring in Eugene, specifically on Sunday and Monday, she said the city illegally restricted protester’s free speech rights.
These curfews were set by City Manager Pro Tem Sarah Medary, sometimes at the advice of EPD, according to EPD Chief Chris Skinner. The city manager may implement a curfew during a state of emergency, according to Eugene’s Emergency Code 2.1055. Emergency situations, as defined by the code, can include cases of civil disturbance and rioting.
Saturday marked the first night of curfews. The city prohibited any travel in the area from 13th Street to Fourth Street and High Street to Monroe Street between 9 p.m. Saturday and 6 a.m. Sunday. The city later extended the curfew’s boundaries to include the whole city at midnight.
Medary also implemented a curfew on Sunday night from 9 p.m to 6 a.m. Monday “following incidents of violence and damage in Eugene,” according to a press release. She extended the curfew to apply city-wide starting at 11 p.m. — but the announcement came at only 10:59 p.m.
Protesters reported that police gave them only three minutes to leave the downtown area before firing tear gas and pepper balls at the demonstrators.
“When I asked the city manager to entertain a curfew or to contact the council entertaining this curfew, I tried to give our city manager public safety recommendations based on what we’re seeing in the community,” Skinner said on Monday about Sunday night’s curfew.
On Monday, Medary implemented another curfew downtown between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. Tuesday. At 11:10 p.m. officials extended the curfew to include the entire city, beginning at midnight.
It’s unclear why the city extended the curfew to all of Eugene’s 170,000 residents. That night, protesters were peacefully marching through streets south of campus and moved to the sidewalk when instructed.
In emails to the Emerald, the city said protesters blocking vehicles were the reason for the curfew, and that the curfew was extended because those activities “extended outside of the original curfew area.”
But CLDC Director Regan said the curfews last weekend allowed for the police to use violence, with tear gasses and long-range “non-lethal” munitions.
“It’s clearly a violation of Section 1983 of the civil rights laws,” she said. The section allows for individuals to sue the state over the infringement of their civil rights, and is often used to sue police officers for excessive force.
Police accountability group Don’t Shoot Portland and two Portland protesters used this section to file a legal action against that city Friday.
The group requested that Portland Police Bureau cease the use of tear gas against protesters, citing that its use actively violates their First and Fourth Amendment rights — the right to free speech and security from unreasonable searches and seizures, respectively.
To the City of Eugene, Regan said: “See you in court.”
Michael Tobin contributed research to this story.
