Eugene police and community leaders say they won’t tolerate hate and will work to improve relations between police and the minority community. They held a press conference Wednesday in response to recent national events.
The fatal shootings of police in Dallas and of black men at the hands of police in Baton Rouge and Minnesota have the nation reeling. Eugene Police Chief Pete Kerns says even though these events happened far away, the issues are close to home.
Kerns: “Criminal justice is a local issue. Nationally it affects all of us. We want to reassure the community that we’re working together. We all recognize we have more work to do.”
Kerns was joined by Eric Richardson, Director of the NAACP of Lane County who quoted Fanny Lou Hamer who said she was sick and tired of being sick and tired.
Richardson: “The level of fear, confusion, and division in our country is something that should be intolerable in the 21st century.”
Richardson and Chief Kerns vowed to continue to work together. There have been recent incidents of vandalism against Asian-owned businesses in Eugene. And, reports of hate speech.
