Eugene Police impersonate media to spread favorable news coverage

Presenter: Tim Lewis reported Aug. 12 that a Eugene Police Department employee is impersonating the media, wearing a vest that says “Press.” The full video appears on his YouTube channel, titled Eugene CopWatch/StepBack. Tim Lewis:

Tim Lewis: You know, I’ve been doing this for like 40 years in the neighborhood. We started a thing called Eugene CopWatch, and we also had our own television show, Cascadia Live, for eight years. It was a live one-hour show on community television.

[00:00:28] We were media back then, and I was media back then, and I’ve done a lot of work with even 60 Minutes and Netflix and Academy Award-winning documentaries and so, I’ve been around. And the police know that. And a lot of the people in this town know that. And these specific cops also knew that, because I’ve dealt with them before in the past.

[00:00:50] But on that day, you know, I was just driving my truck down in Washington Jefferson Park on 5th Street, and I saw the activity and I pulled over on the south side of West 5th, and they were in the park area where they feed the neighbors, Neighbors Feeding Neighbors, and they had these people lined up on the curb.

[00:01:08] So I just took some shots from the truck where I was in, and I decided to get out and walk around, which you see in the video, and not get close, because I know they get a little agitated.

And, I know one of the young people that were on the curb asked me a question and I couldn’t hear her, and I moved in a little closer. I said, ‘What did you say?’ And she said, ‘Is this necessary?’ Before I could even answer her, the police officer and I forget his name, just lost his s— and he came right at me.

[00:01:43] Presenter:  From the video posted on Tim’s YouTube channel Aug. 12, here’s what happened next.

[00:01:49] EPD: Hey, back up or I’m going to take you to jail. This is a police investigation.

[00:01:54] Tim Lewis: Okay.

[00:01:54] EPD: You’re interfering. Stay back, or I’ll take you to jail.

[00:01:55] Tim Lewis: I’m not interfering.

[00:01:56] EPD: Walk over to the concrete. Do it now.

[00:01:58] Tim Lewis: I’m not interfering.

[00:01:59] EPD: I’m going to take you to jail. Walk back, get back to the concrete. You’re interfering with my investigation and compromising my officer’s safety. Get back to the concrete or I’m going to take you to jail for interfering with police.

[00:02:08] Presenter: A bystander noted another person with a camera was invited to record at close range. His vest identified him as ‘Press’ on both the front and the back. Tim Lewis:

[00:02:19] Tim Lewis: He’s Press. I am also Press, so if that dude can get all the way up there, I should be able to get in the same spot that he is.

[00:02:28] EPD: Don’t get any closer, or you will be placed under arrest.

[00:02:29] Tim Lewis: He’s Press. So there’s just certain people that can get close and other people can’t.

[00:02:35] EPD: You already, you’ve already interfered.

[00:02:37] Tim Lewis: I did not interfere. He’s just, he’s in the same spot that I was.

[00:02:41] EPD: You already interfered.

[00:02:42] Tim Lewis: What media is this guy with? Do you have any clue? He rode in with you?

[00:02:46] EPD: Get back.

[00:02:46] Tim Lewis: He rode in with you.

[00:02:47] EPD: I need you to get back.

[00:02:48] Tim Lewis: Do you know who he is?

[00:02:50] EPD: Quit ignoring what I’m asking you to do.

[00:02:52] Tim Lewis: I’m going to go out and talk to him. What press are you with, sir?

[00:03:01] EPD: The Eugene Police Department.

[00:03:02] Tim Lewis: Oh, okay. So you got your own media. Okay.

[00:03:09] EPD Public Information Officer: I’m with the Public Information Department.

[00:03:11] Tim Lewis: Right, okay.

[00:03:13] EPD Public Information Officer: So I go out and I film the happenings and I share this with all the local media—

[00:03:17] Tim Lewis: But I can’t get in close like you. What do you think about that?

[00:03:22] EPD Public Information Officer: I think that you have to talk with the officers about that.

[00:03:24] Tim Lewis: Well, I have. They said they’re going to arrest me. Are they going to arrest you?

[00:03:27] EPD Public Information Officer: No, I work—

[00:03:28] Tim Lewis: Probably not.  

[00:03:29] Presenter: Speaking by phone Aug. 17, Tim Lewis:

[00:03:32] Tim Lewis: And then the cops intervened with my interview with this guy, and he walked away.

[00:03:38] So that’s basically sort of what went down and, I’m used to that, but also in this day and age that we’re in now, right, with the police really feeling their power more and more, I think they’re feeling empowered and feeling they can just do a lot of different things that they never did before or did it in a more covert way before.

[00:03:59] They’ve got their drones, they’ve got the AI cameras now around town and they’ve got towers with the cameras on it and the audio and all that. And now they’re just doing their own media for their own PR.

[00:04:13] I think a big thing for the (Washington Jefferson) Park for them is that they’re trying to figure out how to get Neighbors Feeding Neighbors out of there, feeding the homeless. They’ve done it for 11 years and they’re trying to get the homeless people from out of the park, and I think they’ve got a lot of support from around town.

[00:04:29] People are getting exhausted by, you know, garbage or fights or just the way things are when you’re on the street. And so I think they feel like they’ve got a lot of community support and they can show all the different things that they’re doing, like giving tickets, keeping people out of the park, arresting them.

[00:04:51] And so that’s the kind of imagery, you know, they’re trying to create, and it’s really not a surprise, but what pisses me off is that the local media is going to accept that imagery or that audio. I mean, they shouldn’t accept that s— from the cops. It’s bad. And it saves them money, I’m sure. But there’s more than just money connected with this.

[00:05:11] There’s like, you know, the, the real story and what is the real story and are these people with those cameras who are working for the police, the police beat the s— out of somebody or they shoot them or whatever it is, are they going to document that? And if they do, are they going to release that to the media? I really doubt it. They aren’t going to release anything that makes ’em look bad or doing something bad, whereas, you know, Todd Boyle or myself or other people of our ilk would definitely do that. And we’d get it out there quick.

[00:05:43] Presenter: We asked how the CopWatch video was received after he posted it Aug. 12.  Tim Lewis:

[00:05:49] Tim Lewis: Well, it’s been amazing actually. You know, I do mostly just Facebook and YouTube. I don’t go to TikTok or anything like that, which I should because you get a lot more hits. But this one, in the first three days had almost 10,000 views. And then Double Sided Media did an article on it.

[00:06:11] Presenter: From Double Sided Media, James Croxton:

[00:06:13] James Croxton (Double Sided Media): It was DSM’s own usual photographer, Robert Scherle, that let managing editor of Double Sided Media, Mary Bell, and myself know about the YouTube video. I very likely would’ve not come across it otherwise. Mary was instrumental in helping this happen so quickly.

[00:06:38] What I was witnessing was just so concerning, chilling, horrifying really, to see a member of a police department pose as press, cosplay as a member of the press. Just surreal.

[00:06:56] And so, I knew that I needed to get ahold of Tim Lewis and I managed to do so very quickly, thankfully. And from there I knew that I needed to talk to the experts. And so I went to the Freedom of the Press Foundation and the Society of Professional Journalists and reached out with the video and said, ‘Hey, what is your initial reaction to this?’

[00:07:23] And across the board, it was: ‘This is wrong, this is scary.’

[00:07:30] And since the article has been published, I have talked to journalists and journalist experts, countless people from across the country, and the consensus has been so far that nobody has really seen this before and it’s wrong and it needs to stop.

[00:07:50] There has to be a clear distinction between law enforcement or any government entity and the press.

[00:08:00] And it is very important to stress that one outlet has already decided to lap it up. It is no better than police stenography. That’s what they’re doing. This is what happens when you take what the police provide you and don’t question it. You don’t do actual journalism.

[00:08:20] And you know, it’s so important that the story does get out there because this is wrong and it needs to stop.

[00:08:29] Presenter: Tim Lewis:

[00:08:30] Tim Lewis: Pretty sweet article. People can go to Double Sided Media and check it out. And really they do interviews with First Amendment professors and things like that. And they’re sort of ranting and raving about what the police are doing.

[00:08:43] Presenter: We asked what outcome he would like to see after learning that the Eugene Police Department is impersonating the press. Tim Lewis:

[00:08:51] Tim Lewis: I would like to see them not be the spin doctors that they are becoming to be with Melinda (McLaughlin) and all these public relations people that work for the EPD in the city, who get paid $100K a year to spin basically propaganda and lies in some way to benefit them.

[00:09:10] I would like to see them just stay out of our business, you know, and let us tell our stories and you just do whatever the hell cops are doing these days and some of it’s not so sweet. And that’s how come we’re out there documenting them.

[00:09:25] Presenter: Tim Lewis discovers an EPD employee posing as the press, and journalists and experts agree: It’s just plain wrong.