Driver injured at Eugene anti-Iran protest; 19-year-old protester cited

A Eugene woman in her 30s was taken to a local hospital after protesters struck her black SUV during a demonstration against U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran in downtown Eugene on Feb. 28, and 19-year-old Shane Alexander Novak of Pflugerville, Texas, was treated for non-life-threatening injuries and issued citations, police said.

According to Eugene Police Department spokesperson Melinda McLaughlin, "a vehicle attempted to slowly drive through the blockade of protesters at about 8 p.m., and people began striking the car. The driver accelerated forward, and a person was caught on the hood of the vehicle, and began hitting and damaging the windshield before falling off," a Lookout Eugene–Springfield account reported. The driver pulled over shortly after the incident at Sixth Avenue and Olive Street and was evaluated at the scene before being transported for treatment; police said she suffered facial injuries after being struck while her window was down.

NBC16 reported a slightly different timeline, saying "at approximately 6:00 p.m., the driver of a black SUV was attempting to go slowly through the area when people began to strike the vehicle," while also noting officers responded at about 8:00 p.m. to reports of a large group blocking the road near Sixth Avenue and Pearl Street. Sources differ on the time of the vehicle incident; EPD dispatch logs and an official timeline have not been released to reconcile the 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. references.

The person who rode onto the hood was identified by police as Shane Alexander Novak, 19, of Pflugerville, Texas. NBC16 said, "The pedestrian, identified as 19-year-old Shane Alexander Novak of Pflugerville, TX, was treated at the scene and then transported by Eugene Springfield Fire to a local hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries, police said." Lookout and NBC16 both reported Eugene Springfield Fire ambulance crews transported Novak to a hospital. Novak was issued criminal citations for second-degree criminal mischief and disorderly conduct, according to Lookout and NBC16.

The protest began in the afternoon, with NBC16’s photo caption noting about 100 people rallied at the Eugene Federal Building around 4:00 p.m., and demonstrators moved through downtown, at times blocking intersections including Seventh Avenue and Pearl Street and standing in the roadway on Sixth and Seventh Avenues. NBC16 also reported a federal response later in the evening that included flash-bang devices and that federal agents detained two protesters outside the Eugene Federal Building; Lookout’s account did not include the federal detentions in the supplied excerpts.

There were reports of windshield damage to the black SUV and "reports of damage to other vehicles during the incident," EPD said, but no dollar estimates or vehicle counts were provided. Activists circulated claims that the driver had run over a protester; police accounts in the Lookout and NBC16 reporting describe the sequence as a person on the hood who hit the windshield and fell off, a characterization that contradicts the activists’ initial claim. Journalist Andy Ngo also amplified the event on social platforms, drawing high engagement, according to compiled reporting.

EPD spokesperson Melinda McLaughlin and Eugene Springfield Fire provided the incident and medical-transport details used in these accounts; the department has not released a final timeline reconciling the differing time reports or an updated condition for the driver.