Eugene Police declared a riot Friday outside the federal building in downtown Eugene after a day of demonstrations tied to a nationwide protest against federal immigration enforcement.
The demonstrations were part of a broader “National Shutdown” effort opposing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity. Protests and related actions occurred across Lane County throughout the day, including a rally at Springfield City Hall followed by a vehicle caravan that traveled through Springfield and Eugene before participants gathered near the federal building.
By midafternoon, several hundred demonstrators had assembled in the plaza and courtyard areas outside the Eugene Federal Building. Eugene police issued traffic advisories for downtown congestion and later reported escalating activity near the building’s entrances and windows. Law enforcement ordered the crowd to disperse and warned that failure to leave the area could result in detention or arrest. Authorities later declared the situation a riot and directed the public to leave immediately as officers staged nearby to clear the area.
The riot declaration followed a week of heightened tensions at the Eugene Federal Building. On Jan. 27, federal agents responded to a separate anti-ICE demonstration at the same location that resulted in arrests and the use of crowd-control measures. According to federal and local reporting, that earlier protest involved sustained confrontations outside the building, damage to windows, and the deployment of crowd-control tools as agents moved to disperse demonstrators. Multiple arrests were reported during that incident, which lasted several hours…