Just over two months since it was installed, a fence surrounding Eugene’s federal building has been dismantled.
Around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday evening, crews in reflective vests and helmets began taking apart the black metal fence, panel by panel, while onlookers and activists watched from the corner of High Street and 7th. One waved an upside-down American flag, while he and several others chanted, “USA! USA! USA!”
The fence went up after Eugene Police declared a January protest — when a window was shattered — a “riot.” The facility houses several federal agencies, but the focus of the recent protests have been directed at Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel and operations.
The Civil Liberties Defense Center asked the Oregon District Court to have the fence taken down while a lawsuit continues on behalf of several activists, who said that the barrier obstructed their rights to free speech.
After inspecting the fence, U.S. District Judge Mustafa Kasubhai originally ordered on June 22 that it be taken down within 48 hours. The federal General Services Administration asked for an extension; the removal was then scheduled for 7 a.m. on July 2.
The federal government has appealed to keep the fence up, but was denied.
Whitaker resident David Tillman stood near the barrier holding his skateboard, as workmen stacked sections of fence on the other side. He told KLCC that he was here when the fence first went up on April 29.
“It was a pain to watch, but y’know, it’s over now,” Tillman said, adding that, come the Fourth of July, a number of people plan on being back outside the federal building. “We don’t want anything like this to ever happen again.”
Kasubhai plans to hold a hearing on Thursday to determine whether the government complied with his order.
Copyright 2026, KLCC.
