Protest at Eugene courthouse calls for police chief's removal

Calls for Eugene Police Chief Chris Skinner’s removal echoed across the federal courthouse plaza Saturday, where protesters tied one officer’s body-camera video to a broader fight over whether Eugene police can be trusted to police themselves.

The May 30 demonstration in front of the Eugene federal courthouse followed the release of footage involving Eugene Police officer Martin Siller and came after days of escalating criticism over how the department handled the case. Demonstrators said the issue was bigger than one officer. One community member described it as a deeper culture of impunity, a view that matched the message from activists who have framed the controversy as a test of the department’s accountability.

Skinner said Siller had worked for Eugene police for seven years after spending 20 years with the West Valley City Police Department in Utah. The chief said Siller resigned within hours after the video was posted online on May 9, and that he wanted Siller’s Oregon certification reviewed by the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training. Eugene police also said they were reviewing all of Siller’s body-camera footage from the Jan. 30 protests at the Eugene Federal Building.

Those Jan. 30 demonstrations, tied to ICE and immigration enforcement concerns, set off a wider confrontation between protesters and police. Eugene police declared an active riot that day, and federal agents later used tear gas. The body-camera video that surfaced afterward became the latest flashpoint in a dispute that has already moved from the streets into City Hall, the police commission and public records fights.

Independent Police Auditor Craig Renetzky said he immediately launched a preliminary investigation after the video surfaced. The Eugene Police Commission has also pressed department leaders on body cameras and public release rules. Skinner has said officers do not leave without cameras, but Oregon law can limit what footage can be released to the public.

The NAACP Eugene-Springfield called the footage “disturbing, if unsurprising,” and said it reflected a system that normalizes violence and dehumanization. Activists followed that pressure with a May 15 press conference in Scobert Park, where speakers called for Skinner to resign. They said remarks in the video about protesters, Black people, immigrants and domestic violence showed a pattern that cannot be dismissed as a single lapse.

The courthouse protest also landed in the middle of Eugene’s broader surveillance debate. In 2025, residents and groups including Eyes Off Eugene fought Flock license-plate readers, saying the city had contracted for 57 cameras and later challenging records about where they were located. That history helped give Saturday’s demonstration a wider meaning: not just a demand over one chief, but a public warning that confidence in Eugene police is being tested on body cameras, surveillance and day-to-day civil liberties.