SPRINGFIELD – A pro-immigration enforcement protestor who attended an anti-immigration protest two days prior in Springfield was arrested on Feb. 2 for allegedly pulling a gun on two people during a road rage incident on the 300 block of Pioneer Parkway East.
According to the police report compiled by Sgt. James Wilson, Joseph Douglas Alford, 21, of Springfield, was driving on Pioneer Parkway East about 4:50 p.m. when two coworkers, identified in court documents as Peter Michael Colon and Tylor Glenn, noticed Alford driving slower than the speed limit.
As the two co-workers drove up beside the other driver, later identified as Alford, they noticed that he was on his phone. One of the victims made a comment out of the window to Alford for being on his phone when Alford pulled out a handgun and pointed it at them.
Colon and Glenn reportedly feared for their lives, driving away from Alford before reporting the incident to the police.
Alford, formerly from Arizona, was identified as the alleged suspect, and a background check revealed he was forbidden by law from possessing firearms.
Alford – whose photo appeared on the cover of last week’s edition – attended the anti-ICE protest in Springfield on Jan. 30, with his face masked, alongside his brother, Tyler Alford, 20, of Springfield, who packed a Glock 17 and a Smith & Wesson AR-15 Rifle in the parking lot. Tyler said he came primarily to “show my Second Amendment right.”
Later in the evening, police located Joseph Alford at his home and took him into custody without incident. Springfield Detectives were contacted and requested to assist with the investigation, and a search warrant led to the discovery of two firearms in Alford’s possession. He was arrested for two counts of Menacing with a firearm and Unlawful Possession of a Firearm and lodged at the Lane County Jail.
This is not Alford’s first run-in with the law in Lane County.
On Nov. 11, 2022, Alford was convicted of stalking Justin Eugene Cobb and of contempt of court for violations that occurred between Jan. 29 and May 19, 2022.
The judge ruled that Alford knowingly alarmed or coerced Cobb by engaging in repeated and unwanted contact with Cobb by sending messages, showing up to his workplace, and repeatedly driving by Cobb’s home and yelling. He was sentenced to bench probation – unsupervised probation in which the offender is monitored directly by the judge rather than a probation officer – for 24 months, 160 hours of community service, and to abide by the restraining order.
Alford is scheduled to appear at the Lane County Courthouse on Monday, March 9, at 2:30 p.m. Anyone involved or who may have witnessed the Jan. 30 incident is asked to contact the Springfield Police Department at 541-726-3721.
Editor’s Note: The lead sentence of this article was adjusted to better describe Alford as a pro-immigration-enforcement protestor.
