EUGENE, Ore. — For the second time, Eugene’s City Council meeting was interrupted by hateful speech, specifically anti-Black and anti-Semitic slurs during the public forum segment on November 13.
A virtual attendee identified as “Rudy” began a rambling speech which ended in racist remarks.
City officials immediately cut off the speaker and adjourned the meeting.
Last month, there were two instances of racist and anti-Semitic remarks during the City Council’s public forum on October 23.
Eugene Mayor Lucy Vinis describes the incidents as a resurgence of disruptive and divisive language previously seen during the height of the Covid pandemic in 2020.
She says this time, as a result of the war in the Middle East, people are using the violence as an opportunity to spread hate speech.
“We are definitely in a time in our country these few weeks, I think, really as a result of the war in the Middle East, of heightened hate crimes,” says Vinis.
According to Mayor Vinis, there are no explicit legal processes to prevent hate speech from interrupting a meeting in the future.
City officials have structured public meetings in order to contain and limit the impact of hateful language when it occurs.
Due to the virtual structure of the public forum, anyone can join and have the opportunity to express their perspective about important issues in Eugene’s community.
Vinis adds, “We are just vulnerable to it right now because it’s so easy for people to do this through this virtual format. So, I don’t think we’re necessarily done with this and I will be prepared at every meeting where this might occur and be prepared to close the meeting down so it can’t continue.”
