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There were pamphlets that indicated what types of activities the group hoped participants would <br />take part in, and those were illegal actions. We have a situation where eggs with this armor- <br />etched material had been put in by hypodermic needle that could serious damage to the eyes, <br />ears, and throat of a police officer. For those who say our police officers should not have been <br />dressed in the gear that they were dressed in, I would indicate to you it is important that our <br />employees be as safe as they can be. And, as the City Manager indicated, they did not ask to <br />come to this event. The event took place and our officers were there to protect the citizens of <br />the community. <br /> <br />"There were pamphlets suggesting that illegal actions take place, there were actions on cable <br />television inviting people to take place in illegal actions, the Internet is full of activities that are <br />requested on the part of participants, the radio call in show last week where they specifically <br />indicated that the demolition of personal and private property was "all right." Individuals who <br />participate in an activity like this or come down to view that activity do that with some peril. And I <br />do not believe that that is the same as taking away their rights of free speech. I believe that the <br />City Council last week did an admirable thing in passing the resolution that indicated that we <br />wanted people in this community to feel free to exercise their right of free speech provided they <br />did not cross over the line into an area of lawlessness. <br /> <br />"To point out something, there was no permit applied for, for that matter, there was no indication <br />of where the activities were going to take place last week. There was no permit applied for to <br />use Washington/Jefferson Park. It's interesting to note that two months ago I had to go to the <br />City Manager and ask him to waive a $150 charge to one of our local neighborhood associations <br />who wanted to use a park in their neighborhood to hold a community meeting. They had to <br />receive authorization and it took, frankly, quite a lot of bureaucratic effort to get that $150 waived. <br />My concern is, for each of us as policy makers, if we should have one set of rules for those who <br />agree to follow the rules and another set of rules for those who simply say we aren't going to <br />follow the rules. Remember these rules were all democratically put into place. <br /> <br />"In my opinion the police acted appropriately based on my knowledge of the events. I was not <br />there, and I'll tell you why I'm not there. All of you know that I have a high profile from within the <br />organization that put on that event to the point where occasionally I have to have a police officers <br />be by my home if I'm not going to be in town. Now I want to tell you I don't like that type of <br />protection being required for my wife in the event that I am not in town. And if you think I'm <br />fooling about that, ask police officers who find the address of my home in backpacks or in <br />locations where these people meet. Now this is not just normal free speech rights. <br /> <br />"The authority of the police to control crowds during an unsafe situation is essential in my opinion <br />to the health, safety and well being of the citizens and guests of our community, just as if a large <br />tall building were to be set fire in downtown Eugene, I believe the police have the authority to <br />move people out of the street and away from the danger. This type of potential riotous situation <br />also has danger not only to the citizens of Eugene who may have just happened upon the <br />event--and I frankly find it very hard to believe that very many of them "just happened" upon the <br />event--but it could be so I'm not going to take that out of the realm of possibility-- but folks, when <br />we start taking away the authority and the responsibility of our police officers to ~rotect our <br />community, we are doing a disservice to all of our community. <br /> <br />"And for those who would indicate that there was an excessive amount of force I would tell you <br />this year versus the previous year there was no amount of discernable public damage to public <br />and private property. The fact is, isn't that a good thing? Isn't the show of force exactly what we <br /> <br />MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 21, 2000 Page 5 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br /> <br />