I'll be leaving in a little bit to go to this #StopAsianHate event at the Federal Courthouse at 11 a.m.
So far, a couple dozen people are here at the courthouse.
I think I see SolidariTEA too.
The crowd is growing pretty fast tbh.
I'd say there are 70-100 people here already.
First a moment of silence for the #Atlanta shooting victims and then a community discussion will open up for people to speak about their experiences in Eugene and elsewhere in their lives.
A moment of silence following another speaker who read off the names of those killed.
A man has come on the mic and is going over the statistics of crimes against Asian-Americans and said that this mass shooting is a clear example of a new wave of anti-Asian-American sentiment.
He, a father of two, dreams that his children will not be harassed by being told to go back to China, nor he harassed by how they look, and like MLK said, be judged by the content of their character.
The event tonight at the Mayne Morse Free Speech Plaza is being announced.
Another speaker is telling the crowd about a hate crime he experienced by someone he met and frequented local sports bars with.
He says their conversations eventually turned to race and privilege.
The man said there wasn't racism and that he was "colorblind"
Later, after George Floyd was killed, he reached out to say hello and because the man then knew his political leanings, he was "put in a box," compared to dogs, and asked if he was one of those liberals out there protesting.
Two supporters hold signs.
@Eblack_unity leadership just spoke about the treatment of Asian-American students at the University of Oregon.
The president of the local chapter of the NAACP is now speaking saying that this is now the time to organize.
He stresses that this [the Atlanta murders] can happen here in Eugene now that people are coming out of the woodwork.
A speaker is now talking about a prominent San Francisco political leader who made racist remarks about Asian-Americans and how they, falsely, "use white supremacy to get ahead."
The rally has wrapped up.
"We are going to make some really big changes," was said.
A march has been announced for sometime this week.
I have finished reading, highlighting, and digesting the federal complaint filed against the City of Springfield, the Springfield Police, and individual officers, by the @CLDC on behalf of Black Unity (@Eblack_unity).
There are a handful of people here now gathered around a banner that says "People have the right to resist - stop the sweeps. Two EPD cars are blocking the way towards the sweep.
I had been working on that tweet for a while and many more folks have shown up in that time. I'd say about 30-40 people.