A chaotic scene played out over several hours Tuesday afternoon and evening during a protest against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Eugene Federal Building.

The event drew federal law enforcement‘s largest-scale response to date since demonstrators began regularly gathering at the site to denounce the Trump administration’s immigration policies.

Officers deployed tear gas, pepper balls and what sounded like flash-bangs throughout the day. They also detained several demonstrators and then released them, with some protesters counting at least nine people who had been taken inside.

KLCC observed and spoke to those who said they had been injured during those incidents.

Anna Lardner was released from detention with visible bruises on her face and shoulders. She told KLCC that inside, officers had sat on her legs, hyperextended her foot, and initially refused to provide a female staff member to search her.

City medics responded to the building while Lardner was inside. She later told KLCC she’d requested medical assistance due to injuries to her ankle and wrist.

“It’s always scary to be arrested and taken in,” said Lardner. “I was scared with how many of them there were. I was scared they were going to hurt me. I was scared they were going to damage and disable me. I was scared they might shoot me.”

Lardner accused the Department of Homeland Security of targeting her for her involvement in an ongoing lawsuit against the Trump administration over new noise rules. The other plaintiff in that case, Chloe Longworth, was also detained on Tuesday.

“They know that people are mad,” said Lardner. ”They know people are showing up to demonstrate, and they want to scare those people so they go home.”

Later in the evening, federal officers played an audio recording telling protesters they were violating the law and needed to disperse.

They then deployed tear gas. Some protesters fled down the block, signaling to passing cars to roll their windows up to avoid being exposed.

Afterwards, KLCC spoke to Jay Smith, who was sitting on a nearby sidewalk covering one of his eyes. He said he’d leaned down to throw a gas canister away from the crowd, when another one bounced off the ground and hit him in the face.

“I was not there to agitate. I was not there to piss people off,” said Smith. ”I was just there to make sure that my friends got out safe, and they shot me in the f— eye.”

During the day’s events, protesters taunted officers, banged on the windows of the building, and shined green laser pointers at law enforcement stationed on a roof.

In one video posted to Reddit, a protester closely confronted federal officers who had surrounded Lardner. In the same recording, an officer can be seen pushing a protester down concrete steps.

KLCC has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment.

Nathan Wilk is a reporter with KLCC. This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.

It is part of OPB’s broader effort to ensure that everyone in our region has access to quality journalism that informs, entertains and enriches their lives. To learn more, visit our journalism partnerships page.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/01/28/ice-protest-eugene-oregon/