On Dec. 2, the city of Eugene removed about 100 people living in tents on a strip of land beside the Interstate 105 bridge on the border of the Whiteaker neighborhood and discarded all belongings that remained.
The process of removing the camp and dispersing campers was not new. While the city’s usual enforcement of illegal camping was temporarily suspended late last March per Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 guidelines, by June 5, regular enforcement had returned.
The clearing of the large camp drew attention and outrage as temperatures were dropping, only a handful of shelter beds were available and coronavirus spread locally at unprecedented rates.