As a journalist, I’ve covered dozens of protests. I’ve stood on sidewalks, run down streets and entered occupied buildings. I’ve witnessed many surveillance tactics — school police, administrators, even SWAT. But last Tuesday night was different — not because of the protest itself, which was largely peaceful, but because of what happened afterward.
Earlier in the day, I’d heard about an anti-ICE protest scheduled outside the federal building in downtown Eugene, at the corner of East 7th Avenue and High Street. Protesters planned to remain there from 2 p.m. until 2 a.m.
The scene stayed largely peaceful throughout the day, aside from a brief skirmish in the evening that resulted in three detentions. Around 8 p.m., our photo editor texted me: officers were gearing up with riot gear. He added, “They’ve got police drones up, and they’re following people to their cars.”…