Three Arrested as Tear Gas Fired During Portland Protest at ICE Facility
PORTLAND, Ore. — Portland Police Bureau (PPB) officers monitoring protest activity around the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) building on the south waterfront on Saturday confirmed that three arrests were made, as gatherings outside the facility continued during the mainly peaceful ‘No Kings’ rally.
3 Protesters Arrested in Portland Near ICE Building
After Saturday’s ‘No Kings’ peaceful marches drew tens of thousands across 50 Oregon cities and towns, PPB indicated that three people were arrested that day.
No significant incidents were reported anywhere in the state, even at Portland’s Waterfront Park, the biggest rally in Oregon, as people gathered to protest the powers exercised by President Donald Trump.
Earlier this month, U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, with U.S. Reps. Suzanne Bonamici, Janelle Bynum, and Maxine Dexter sent a letter to Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem criticizing the excessive use of force by DHS federal agents that has “escalated tensions on the ground, eroded the trust between our community and law enforcement, and put our constituents in harm’s way.”
The lawmakers urged Noem to remove agents whose presence they say has incited violence rather than prevented it. Earlier this month, Kristi Noem accused Oregon leaders of lying, promising more troops in Portland.
Protests intensified since late September when Trump invoked Title 10, effectively federalizing and deploying the Oregon National Guard to Portland, but earlier this month, the court kept the Oregon National Guard federalized but blocked Trump from deploying troops.
Still, protests have continued at the ICE facility, and, during Saturday’s protest, PPB officers arrested three people, all of Portland: 27-year-old Mark A. Lee for Assault in the Fourth Degree and Harassment, 46-year-old Michelle P. Backes for Assault in the Fourth Degree, and Stacey A. Prichard for Harassment and Bias Crime in the Second Degree. All three were lodged at the Multnomah County Detention Center.
The lawmakers reminded DHS that crowd control agents, like tear gas, are indiscriminate by nature, making no distinction between a peaceful protester, a bystander, a child, or an individual with a severe respiratory condition, and the harmful impacts of tear gas have been well-documented.
But the use of tear gas and pepper balls by federal agents has continued despite Portland Mayor Keith Wilson asking DHS to take a thoughtful, long-term approach to the future of this controversial facility and the safety of the surrounding community.
He asked that federal law enforcement officers raise their operational and legal standards in terms of use of force and munitions, officer identification, and body-worn cameras.