Pre-trial detainees at Lane County Jail are in their fourth week of hunger striking. The 12 detainees who are striking demands include the right to a speedy and fair trial, and adequate COVID-19 protections. Last week a detainee released photos showing a guard moving between a quarantined section and the general population of the jail without a mask on.
On Friday, Lane County Mutual Aid put on a press conference in support of the hunger strikers. Also participating were family members of the hunger strikers, GTFF VP of Organizing Rhiannon Lindgren, and Oregon Justice Resource Center’s Althea Seloover. Seelover pointedly put it: that if we want everybody to wear masks and we want to care for people, we have to care for those that are incarcerated.
Lane County Mutual Aid continued actions in solidarity with hunger strikers with a letter writing campaign and a call to reach out to Lane County Commissioners by phone and email.
Local links
Lane County will open a second round for rent assistance on 9 AM Wednesday
The University of Oregon joined 19 other colleges in a in filing a lawsuit to block new rules by the Department of Homeland Security that would revoke visas for international students who are only taking online classes.
The GTFF’s BIPOC caucus put out a handy guide on the new federal rules and what the UO is doing before this suit was filed
Seven workers at El Torito Grocery Store in West Eugene test positive for COVID-19
PDX Concierge, a volunteer grocerry delivery service that serves immunocompromised, elderly, and first responders and was started by high school students in Portland, has expanded to the Eugene-Springfield area.
The same author from the article above previously wrote about the tie between university privatization and campus police
Related, head of local nonprofit Archaeological Legacy Institute, Richard Pettigrew, calls for County Commissioners to rename Lane County to Kalapuya County
The week ahead
Wednesday, 1-5 PM — Free frontline worker COVID-19 testing at Lane Events Center
Wednesday, 4 PM — De-escalation for community & self-defense
Thursday, 3 PM — Resisting grand juries: what you need to know
Thursday, 5 PM — LERC: The inside story on the COVID crisis – what happened in New York, and what we should expect in Oregon
Thursday, 6 PM — WildCAT volunteer general meeting on Zoom!
Saturday, 9:30 AM — Saturday Burrito Brigade (Food for Lane county) at Food for Lane County
find more events at solidarity.page