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• 1 11111�C ,e6 -y-77( • q/g1 arrest • activists • at park • Scobert: Five adults • and a boy, 13, are hauled away for refusing to leave. • By JANELLE HARTMAN The Register -Guard 1 Continued from Page 1C Noisy activists camping in Scob- noisy, said they kept a clean camp_ size of the group•there earlier, Brett ert Park were met by 20 Eugene po- and claimed that police "harassed . said. All but a half -dozen activists lice officers early Wednesday who and intimidated" them- left willingly, he said. warned protesters to leave, then ar- Lt. Tom Brett, who commands No one was injured during the rested five adults and a 13- year -old the city's police sector that includes sweep Wednesday, and police didn't boy who refused. the park, said police. had a responsi- have to use tear gas or other wen The 1:30 a.m. action came after g p dozens of compialnt calls throughout bility to respond before the situation ons to clear the group, Brett said. the day and night Tuesday to police got out of hand. • The activists who remained were and city officials from neighbors ,Twenty officers on overtime ap- arrested on municipal charges of vi- near the troubled 1 -acre west Eu- proached the park at 1:30 a.m. in olating park rules. Additionally, one gene park, authorities said. what Brett called "field force" gear, man was charged with illegally ob- The park has been plagued by which includes helmets with face taining the contents of a .conversa- vandalism, littering, public drunken- shields and side handle batons. lion for attempting to secretly tape }; } Hess and drug activity — one neigh- Such gear is used when police be- record his arrest. Secret recordings >.i3,:ti3 ?3ii > : bor said a 3-year-old child recently l lieve there is a potential for a violent are barred under Oregon law. confrontation, Brett said. The adults spent the night in the stepped on a hypodermic needle "A field force -level response is a Lane County Jail, and the 13-year- there. The park was scheduled to tactical option you use when you're old boy was lodged in the Ski rth shut down for three months begin- p o Wing last Monday. dealing with an unpredictable situa- Juvenile Detention Facility. All of The closure was intended in part tion," he said. "You absolutely want the protesters were released to give the park's unusual and sent to minimize the potential for injury Wednesday. tive plants, long used as toilets by to anyone." The park was quiet during the transients, time to heal from abuse. Eighteen_to 20 people were there day Wednesday, with no organized But the closure order was lifted when police arrived, about half the protest Tuesday for one week after protest- ' t ers moved in, saying they were trying to call attention to issues of _ homelessness. City officials said the postpone- ment would give neighbors who signed petitions seeking to close the park and opponents time to meet • and pursue other options. In the meantime, authorities warned activists that they still could be arrested if they set up camps in the park, used alcohol there or stayed past 11 p.m. — all violations 1 under the city's park rules ordi- nance. An estimated 30 to 40 activists 1 were in the park late Tuesday, prompting calls to police. "They were causing a lot of noise, chanting and drumming and other things well after midnight," said Doug Ebbitt, who lives next to the park, near •the Intersection of Blair Boulevard and Fourth Avenue. Activists, who sent out two news releases Wednesday, denied being Turn to PARK, Page 5C •