Feb. 4, 2026 | Hannah Field | Editor-in-Chief
On Jan. 29, 2026, the city of Monmouth held its quarterly town hall in the evening to discuss “freedoms of speech, assembly, and expression.”
“We really want to talk about Monmouth and issues of the First Amendment, of freedom of speech, of freedom of assembly and how we look at those things when we have concerns,” said the mayor of Monmouth, Cecelia Koontz, during the town hall. “Because we have had concerns. We have had complaints, and we have had incidents.”
Present faces were city attorney Justin Thorp, Chief of Police Isaiah Haines, Polk County District Attorney Aaron Felton and Oregon Rep. Paul Evans, who is also a full-time professor of speech communication at Chemeketa Community College.
Such town halls discuss budget issues, city service and various other relevant topics. Thursday’s meeting discussed civic action, but divulged that Immigration and Customs Enforcement has kidnapped four people out of Monmouth — two being American citizens.
Evans opened the town hall, saying, “We live in an era where people suggest violence right out of the gate. Violence stops the conversation. It doesn’t enhance it.”
“Oregon is a sanctuary state,” said Isaiah Haines, answering an attendee’s question. “There are prohibitions that local law enforcement have from assisting immigration enforcement … I am forbidden, by law, to assist with immigration enforcement.”
Haines made it clear that if called upon for help, such as in the case of a physical threat, Monmouth police will respond regardless of who needs the assistance.
“If somebody is in trouble — meaning their life is being threatened or there is a reasonable threat to be perceived — there is no prohibition on our police officers responding to support that. The difference is, as in the case that happened not long ago when four people from this community were taken away, two of which were citizens, they are not going to assist in the capture of those individuals or the detainment because that’s a federal responsibility,” said Evans. “ICE has their operations. They do what they do. If they are in danger, if they feel that they are in some form of danger, our folks will respond.”
Information on the four people taken by ICE has not been publicized, nor were Western students made aware of it until mentioned at the town hall.
“If somebody really shouldn’t be here, and there’s a warrant to prove they shouldn’t be here, (police) can help. That’s not what sanctuary status is about,” added Evans.
Additionally, a Western student alleged that on Dec. 3, 2025, when protester and livestreamer Thomas Allen disrupted campus operations with inflammatory political statements, that people were “pushed, that were pushed down the stairs, there were injuries,” and that, to their knowledge, Monmouth police did not respond to calls.
In response, Haines stated that officers were in communication with Western as well as Campus Public Safety and viewing the live stream to determine lawful activity during the interruption. He affirmed that all calls were answered, but no uniformed officers were required to manage the situation.
“The only time I was aware ever of any contact that was made were when sidewalks were blocked, actually by from what I perceived to be students … and that actually was probably, or could be, an illegal activity. Now, we couldn’t see everything just based on the view of the camera, but somebody has the right to pass through a sidewalk area in a public space, even if they’re saying things that are hurtful or hateful to somebody else.”
He added, “To our knowledge, I never heard about actual injuries that happened, that were reported to us, and we didn’t observe anything that we thought was criminal conduct that would warrant our response at the time.”
“Stand up for what you believe, so you can push ideas into concepts, into proposals, into laws, and then into implementation,” Evans said.
Contact the author at howleditorinchief@wou.edu
