Arrests Exemplify Weekend Unrest

Oregon Daily Emerald - 06/20/00

Several dozens people arrested over the weekend during what organizers called a "Carnival Against Capital" were being released one by one, every hour, from the Lane County Jail late Monday night.

The heavy police presence out in force beginning late last week netted approximately 60 to 70 arrests of anarchists, protesters and apparently people who were just bystanders to the entire scene. Will Winget was one of those arrested at about 9 p.m. Sunday under the Washington-Jefferson Bridge -- site of Sunday afternoon's "historic re-enactment" of the June 18, 1999, protest that turned into a downtown Eugene riot.

"They just walked up to him and said 'We're arresting you for disorderly conduct,'" Winget's friend Walt Hunt said Sunday night. "We were just standing here watching the activity. But about an hour earlier when the state riot people came in they had those long, white batons, and they were pushing everybody back down the street. And they kind of came up behind us. He doesn't move that fast, and they kind of pushed him into a tree.

"What they do is they see you doing something two hours earlier, and then they arrest you at a vulnerable moment," Hunt said.

Terry Schoonmaker was one of the first released from the jail, and that followed the custody referee office's procedure of letting out people with medical problems or no serious prior criminal record first.

Schoonmaker said he was arrested Sunday night at Second Avenue and Adams Street, after police ordered a large group of protesters to leave the county jail vicinity. Schoonmaker said he began walking toward a Quik-Stop Market near Chambers Avenue, when police stopped him and ordered him to take off his backpack. They then informed him that he was being arrested after Schoonmaker refused to give his identity until he was told why he had been stopped.
Upon being released Monday night, Schoonmaker said he was unable to recover some of his belongings, including his shirt, coat and backpack. County jail officials did return his seizure medication, but Schoonmaker walked away from the jail shirtless.

Sunday afternoon's rally was mostly peaceful, with speakers using a bullhorn to address the crowd about their beliefs or sometimes just to rant and yell obscenities. Hundreds of people milled about, either listening to the speeches or talking amongst themselves.

Once a punk band wrapped up its set, a group of about 100 people moved the rally to the Saturday Market area at Eighth Avenue and Oak Street. There they played several games of Red Rover in the middle of the street before police in riot gear ordered them to leave the area.
When the protesters stood their ground, police moved in and began making arrests, firing bean bag rounds at the dispersing groups. The police brigade then began cordoning off streets and pushing the protesters out of the area.

Arrest figures for Sunday night were in the mid-20s, and the most common charges were disorderly conduct and interfering with a peace officer. A strong number of police -- estimated at 100 to 150 -- swept into the Washington-Jefferson Bridge area on bikes, in vans, in patrol cars and on foot.

One of the neutral observers at Sunday's afternoon rally in the park was told by police officers that he would have to leave the area as they began their Sunday night actions.

"I think the anarchist folks are a little frightening; they're scary to the community," John Buffalo said. "But I think that no matter what they did ... which they didn't really do anything ... Nothing could have brought on this; this is overkill to the max."

The majority of the weekend's arrests came Friday night following a gathering at Prince Lucien Campbell Hall on campus, where approximately 300 punks, anarchists and other citizens attended a video premiere of "Breaking the Spell." The video, made by Eugene resident Tim Lewis, is a compilation of footage from last December's World Trade Organization protests in Seattle.

A large part of the contingent then made its way to the Lane County Jail, where police confronted the crowd and began making arrests. All observers and news media were kept at bay while the arrests were being made.

Included in the total number of arrests were two suspects in a vehicle fire at the Joe Romania car dealership at Franklin Boulevard and Walnut Street.

After police received a 911 call at 1:04 a.m. Friday, they responded and stopped Jeffrey Michael Luers, 21, and Craig Andrew Marshall, 27, who were observed driving in the area. The men were eventually arrested and charged with first-degree criminal mischief and first-degree arson.