KEPW reports from Federal Building as EPD declares a riot

Presenter KEPW’s Jana Thrift was reporting live from the Federal Building Friday night when Eugene police declared a riot and asked everyone to leave the area. Jana Thrift:

Jana Thrift (KEPW, Legalize Survival) Thank you for listening here on KEPW-LP 97.3 FM in Eugene at the Fed Building where hundreds of people are outside of the building. And apparently they were banging on the window and a window broke and that is why they put off the flash grenades.

If a certain group of people make a choice, like busting a window, everyone is put into the position of being told that they must leave.

This is not what I thought I’d ever see on the streets of my town—you know, people being disappeared, we’ve got these kids coming from school to this walkout here in this building. It’s pretty intense. Pretty intense, guys. 

Presenter Eugene Police Chief Chris Skinner offered an update on why EPD stepped in. Speaking Jan. 30, Chief Skinner:

Chris Skinner (Eugene Police Department, chief) We’re being really careful about to what extent we send EPD resources down to protect the Federal Building. They have staff that are designed to do that. Unfortunately, tonight they didn’t have a lot of staff. 

And unfortunately, tonight those demonstrations and protests went a little bit far. And when we started to see windows being broken and breached, it was starting to get to a place where it was moving out of the peaceful realm and into the realm of riotous behavior when that’s happening. 

There was just a few federal agents in that building, but maybe more importantly, there was other staff in that building, civilian staff in that building, that were very fearful of our protesters and demonstrators making their way into that building. And so we were keeping a close eye on that as that unfolded. 

At some point, it got to a place where it just became too dangerous for me to be able to sit by and not have EPD intervene in some respect. And let me just be really clear about this: Anytime EPD is going to intervene, it is with the purpose and expectation that we’re going to de-escalate things. 

So when we think about people trying to enter a federal building with very few federal resources, the worst thing in the world we could do is let them respond based on having a lack of resources to adequately handle the problem. 

We’ve heard from people and seen nationwide people’s frustration with the way the federal government has responded with their use of force. And the last thing in the world we want to do is give a reason to respond with a higher level of force than necessary. 

And what I would say is that when there is fewer resources than needed to safely resolve a situation, that’s when you see an escalation in force. 

And so EPD decided to move in and to create a barrier between the protesters and the building so that they could not enter the building. I know that the federal agents were using less-lethal chemical munitions as a deterrent from people that were trying to get through the holes in the windows. 

And so we went in to try and create a barrier as a way to de-escalate the situation, so we wouldn’t have a confrontation between our protesters and federal agents in that building.

We were successful in doing that. We’ve used no munitions throughout this operation. There’s been no instances of use of force by an EPD officer up to this point, and so we felt really good about the fact that we were able to de-escalate that situation. 

What we were waiting for is, we were waiting for other resources to respond from Portland, and that’s the federal government’s prerogative to send resources to their federal building to protect their federal building. Those resources arrived about 6:30 p.m. – 6:45 p.m. and made their way to the building. And that’s when they formulated a plan to take over that particular line or that barrier between the protesters and the building.

And what we saw is the federal government and agents deciding to use munitions to include chemical munitions to push the crowd back as EPD left the scene. And we turned, at that point, the scene over specifically and solely to the federal government and their federal agents. And now they’re in charge of the tactics on scene. 

Some of the tactics that I’ve seen and I was witnessing tonight is certainly the use of smoke and potentially CS gas. I’ve heard reports of gas that have been affecting people. We’re so very sorry that a really fun night at the Hult Center was likely interrupted as a result of this, because of the way that gas will carry through the air. We’re sensitive to that, and we’re mindful that we may have impacted people in that way.

But understand at this point, EPD is not on scene of the Federal Building. We’re not in charge of that scene. We don’t plan on taking control of that scene again unless we can articulate that there’s a significant life-safety issue, like we did earlier this evening.

Presenter KEPW’s Echo Sherman said she didn’t agree with EPD.

Echo Sherman (KEPW, Underground Echo) They called it a riot. But what I saw, what I witnessed, and what people felt was not chaos. It was a cry. Listen to the people who were there.

Anna Lardner, detained earlier this month, said simply, ‘I was scared they might shoot me.’ That is not the voice of a rioter. That is the voice of someone who knows how quickly a life can be erased. 

Jay Smith, injured during another protest, said: ‘I was not there to agitate. I was just there to make sure that my friends got out safe and they shot me in the bleeping eye.’ Let that sit with you. 

Rev. Ryan Scott of Eugene First United Methodist Church said, ‘I’ve been in protest positions with police presence before, but this was different. It felt a lot more aggressive.’ And when a pastor, a shepherd of peace, tells you something has crossed the line, you’ll listen. 

Peter Licavoli of Portal Tea said: ‘The workers just felt it was time to take a stand. It was really a challenging decision because we’re a small business. But ultimately support from employees overwhelmed my hesitancy.’

Presenter KEPW’s Chameleon was inspired by the experience to produce the song, ‘They’re Calling It A Riot.’ It opens with a quote captured by Nathan Wilk and Zac Ziegler on KLCC from one of the protesters Friday, Vivian Kelly:

Song (They’re Calling It A Riot)

Crowd …, no police, no justice, no peace, no ICE, no police, no justice, no peace… 

Jana Thrift So they’re saying ‘No justice, no peace.’ And I think that’s the point. You know, if we sit in the shadows and we don’t do something, then how does this administration know that we’re not okay with it? So protesting is one of the ways that that effort is happening, and it is an ancient tradition in places everywhere to stand like this.

Just doing our part here at KEPW, doing our part, trying to stand our ground. Why do you think it’s important to be here right now? 

Protester Maybe just stick up for immigrant neighbors. We can’t let the police and the government use excessive force on people. I believe in freedom for all. I think everyone’s equal. And I feel like the government is, government’s acting like Nazis and we need to stand up to that. People need to stand up to what’s wrong. You can’t be silent. Silence is complicity. 

Jana Thrift  Yeah, yeah… I am on the street on the northeast corner of 7th and Pearl. I am walking and looking at probably 100 people up closer to the building. There’s definitely an effort here to say ‘No, no, you know, what happened on Tuesday wasn’t okay, and we’re still not okay with it. And we’re not walking away. We’re not. We’re not leaving.’

And I think the only thing we can do is stand our ground. I think that if we choose not to stand our ground, then the freedoms that we value, we will lose.

Presenter KEPW’s Jana Thrift reported live from the Federal Building Jan. 30, with additional reporting from Echo Sherman and a protest anthem from KEPW’s Chameleon, ‘They’re Calling It A Riot.’ 

They’re Calling It A Riot © 2026 Chameleon. All Rights Reserved.