No other night in Eugene over the last year was quite like the night of May 29, 2020.
Four days had passed since Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, during an arrest, knelt on George Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes, killing him. The scene was caught on video, and within days, protests against police brutality had spread across the nation.
The intersection of West Seventh Avenue and Washington Street on the night of May 29, 2020, was illuminated with fires set in dumpsters and stoked with public and private property as a protest march turned into a riot ending only when police intervened.
Hundreds were gathered when they lit the first fires. Eugene police soon appeared at the far end of Washington Street, but only lined themselves up in a show of force before disappearing into the night. They came back when rioters started smashing windows.