A15 Action reports on Eugene I-5 blockade

This reportback was shared with Neighborhood Anarchist Collective from the A15 Action in Eugene in solidarity with economic blockades around the world to stop the genocide in Gaza.

On the morning of Monday, April 15, community members in Eugene, Oregon blockaded Interstate 5 in solidarity with an international call to action to shut down economic trade for Palestine. The goal of this global solidarity effort was to shut down the economy that funds the ongoing occupation and genocide in Palestine.

In response to this expression of their First Amendment right, multiple police agencies—Eugene Police Department, Springfield Police Department, Lane County Sheriff’s Office, Oregon State Police, and the SWAT team—showed up with over 127 officers equipped in riot gear, with munitions and chemical weapons on display. At various points, pepperball guns were aimed within lethal distance at people’s bodies.

Sixty-two arrests were made and the protesters were kept overnight, some for over 30 hours, for this call to end a genocide that has already martyred over 30,000 Palestinians. While all prisoners everywhere are subjected to dehumanizing treatment, we highlight that several trans and gender non-conforming folks were kept in solitary confinement without being presented options, and at least two arrestees were denied access to medications that were on their person with prescription notes at the time of the arrest.

The escalation and severity of this response by the police towards a group of protesters is indicative of a trajectory that should alarm all of us. Every protester that was arrested has been charged with disorderly conduct in the second degree, further underscoring the desperation of the State to maintain control.

While outrageous that 62 citizens that chose to rebel against this country’s complicity with genocide were punished with jail and collective charges, this doesn’t compare to what each and every Palestinian is subjected to every day. Our 24-32 hours in jail pales next to what political prisoners all around the prison world experience. For those of us for whom this was the first experience in a cage, we reaffirm our commitment to the struggle for freedom for Palestinian prisoners and prisoners everywhere, against the police and prisons, against the occupation, against American imperialism, against capitalism —  for a better world, the slight chance for which we will not fail to seize.⁩

Over 9,500 Palestinians have been imprisoned since October 7, including 275 women, 520 children, 66 journalists, and 5,168 orders of administrative detention without charges or trial, and at least 16 Palestinian prisoners tortured to death.

The people of Eugene unite with the people of the world in this clear demand: We want Palestine to live, and we want Palestine to be free.

A proposal to coordinate a multicity economic blockade on April 15 in solidarity with Palestine received overwhelming commitments to participate—in Eugene, around the U.S. and internationally. The action involved 483 arrests in 82 cities in 19 countries on six continents. Civil Liberties Defense Center in Eugene coordinated legal observing on the day of the protest and is now defending 20 persons facing charges. 

“A15 action reportback” by Neighborhood Anarchist Collective is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.