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QuickTake:
Nearly 24 hours after inhaling pepper spray and chemical smoke during a confrontation with Department of Homeland Security officers, Jack Mather returned to the Eugene Federal Building plaza. He recounts his experience of the day before.
Jack Mather set down a pack of water bottles at the corner of Pearl Street and Seventh Avenue early Wednesday afternoon, just behind demonstrators holding “ICE Out” signs.
Mather usually stays a bit out of sight at protest events, quietly observing and supporting people through small acts, like handing out water.
That changed on Tuesday, Jan. 27, when Mather found himself at the front of the line as uniformed officers emerged from the federal building in downtown Eugene.
“I’m usually kind of just in the background, but yesterday, I was kind of, I was pretty frustrated,” Mather said.
That frustration was shared by others in Eugene. Over the weekend, residents gathered in response to federal agents shooting and killing Alex Pretti, an intensive care unit nurse who was protesting in Minneapolis. Then, on Tuesday morning, Mather read about a situation in Arizona where border patrol agents shot a man.
Looking for community, Mather took the bus to where he knew he would find others — the public plaza of the Eugene Federal Building, beneath the American flag. There he found a peaceful demonstration with harmonizers at the Singing for Our Lives event, organized by the BeLonging Space and Interfaith Alliance with Migrants.
“They gave me some hand warmers, they offered me some hot cocoa, their snacks, and a lot of people came up to me and talked to me,” he said. “It was like, nice, and everyone was conversing about, like, how this [aggressive tactics by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers] really affected them, and it was just just a really surreal moment.”
Across the plaza, another group of demonstrators stood near the federal building, looking through its windows. Mather described them as intense but not aggressive.
He noticed two agents in camouflage on the roof.
“I started calling it out,” he said. “I’d see them pop up, and they’d point out people in the crowd,” he said. “And after a while, they all came out.”
About 10 men wearing black Department of Homeland Security uniforms emerged from the building, with shields and carrying gear designed to shoot and disperse chemical irritants like tear gas.
Mather and some from his crowd approached the officers, and quickly became “up close and personal,” Mather said. The officers shot pepper balls at his feet, he said.
He blew his whistle while breathing in the smoke, coughing and gagging.
“At one point, I couldn’t handle it,” he said. “But I just kept going. I don’t know why. I think about my frustration, my anger, and seeing them throw people [to] the ground.”
“So, I kept up with the front, the front of the line, videoing and not doing anything,” he said. “I yelled a bit, but I didn’t like get physical with them. But eventually they went back inside, and the crowd dispersed.”
Afterward there was confusion in the crowd as many demonstrators had seen officers detain at least two people. Mather left to go to work, at a restaurant a few blocks away. He received messages and watched videos as the unrest continued throughout the day.
On Wednesday, Mather returned to the plaza alongside about 30 others still processing what they had seen unfold in Eugene.
“I’m just frustrated. So I’ll be out here today, I’ll be here tomorrow, and I’ll be here until ICE is out of this city,” he said. “We’re a sanctuary city. We’re a sanctuary state, and that’s how I wanted to be.”