Portland Police declare protest outside ICE facility a riot

PORTLAND, Ore. (KATU) — The Portland Police Bureau declared a protest outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility on Macadam Avenue on Saturday night a riot.

The announcement was made via the Portland Police Bureau's event messages X (formerly Twitter) account.

"This is the Portland Police Bureau. To those near S Moody and S Bancroft, this has been declared an unlawful assembly. The area near S Moody and S Bancroft is now closed. All persons must immediately leave the area by traveling to the north," the police said.

At 5:49 p.m., PPB was informed of an injury to a federal officer from the crowd. The police announced to the crowd that a medical event had been reported and urged them not to interfere with the response.

Police declared the gathering a riot around 6:38 p.m. "This is Portland Police. To those near S Moody and S Bancroft, this has been declared a riot. The area near S Moody and S Bancroft is now closed. All persons must immediately leave the area by traveling to the north," the announcement continued.

Throughout the night, PPB reported observing "criminal behavior," leading to targeted arrests. Officers on bikes conducted visibility patrols to deter crime but PPB said they sometimes disengaged when their presence escalated tensions. A second arrest occurred around 10:50 p.m. after a person was seen throwing a rock at the building. Officers reported being pepper sprayed during the arrest, but no suspect was located, and no additional injuries were reported.

At 1 a.m., a third suspect was arrested on Southwest Macadam Boulevard for allegedly picking up traffic control devices and placing them in his truck.

The police warned that failure to comply with the order could result in citation or arrest. "You shall obey all laws and pedestrian control devices. Failure to adhere to this order may subject you to citation or arrest. If necessary, crowd control measures, including impact munitions or other physical force may also be used if justified by law. Leave now," the police said.

Three individuals were arrested. Aged 25, 20 and 38 years-old, they had various charges such as attempted assault of a public safety officer, criminal mischief and more, whereas the 38-year-old arrested had charges of theft in the first degree and a charge of driving under the influence of intoxicants (DUII) unrelated to the protest.

They were booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center.

Portland Mayor Keith Wilson gave KATU News a statement on the "No Kings" protest which occurred earlier in the day and the ICE facility protest.

"An estimated 50,000 Portlanders marched together in solidarity and protest yesterday, joining demonstrations from across the nation. We celebrate all those who peacefully and powerfully raised their voices against Federal overreach, which are deeply held values in both Portland and our nation," the statement read. "Miles from the planned demonstration, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility was damaged by fireworks and other materials. The Incident Command team learned of one federal officer being injured and sent resources to assist, but learned he did not require medical treatment. Later in the evening, PPB was notified that two additional officers received minor injuries and they, too, did not require treatment."

KATU News reached out to PPB about reports of injured officers, to which they responded, "We had a couple who were impacted by pepper spray but no physical injury."

The mayor's statement continued, "The Portland Police Bureau responded swiftly, arrested one person, and cleared a path for a medical evacuation, which was ultimately not required. Later in the evening, a small group of demonstrators remained at the facility and the majority were exercising their constitutional right to free speech while remaining law abiding. However, PPB did step in to make targeted arrests when they had probable cause of criminal behavior."

"Portland is a sanctuary city within a sanctuary state, and the Portland Police Bureau serves and protects our community. We affirm the right to free speech and expression while emphasizing that violence, destruction, and obstruction carry consequences. Portland complies with all applicable federal and state laws and will not obstruct lawful federal enforcement operations.

Our officers will not be used as agents of ICE, but will intervene when criminal acts occur. Accordingly, our officers have maintained a presence at the facility during demonstrations. It is important to note that just because arrests are not made at the scene, when tensions are high, that does not mean that people are not being charged with crimes later. Even when arrests do not happen in the moment, PPB members will continue to conduct follow-up investigations, make arrests, and forward cases to the Multnomah County District Attorney for prosecution.

Mayor Wilson emphasized that Portland does not require more federal intervention, referring to the ICE protests in Los Angeles, California.

Portland has not requested and does not require the intervention of the National Guard. Deploying military troops to the heart of an American city, as the administration has in Los Angeles, is an unwarranted, unprecedented, and unconstitutional action. If we witness federal abuse following this incident or any other pretext, we will bring it to light, take legal action, and take the fight to federal courts, where we will prevail."

Police said the arrests were focused on criminal actions, not constitutionally protected free speech. The PPB stated that individuals involved in violent activity or property destruction would be investigated and could face arrest and prosecution. The bureau emphasized that arrests might not occur immediately but could happen later following investigations.

A protester described the scene to KATU News. "It was relatively calm. We were just chatting to the dude over there and then... I don't really understand what happened quite frankly, but they just started like shooting paintball rounds and whatnot," the protester who remained anonymous said. "And then like at least like three tear gas just started like shooting out. I think it was tear gas. There was like two different colors, smokes I was seeing like a white one and like a red one."

"I look back and there's just like the whole like, intersection is just completely smoked out," the protester continued. "There was some guy got hit with something like, 'cause he was like, 'Ah, that hurt really bad.' And we know he was calling for a medic and whatnot. It seems like it's, I don't know, it's getting kind of crazy out here."

"I came out here with the intention to protest, not really like, do anything crazy, but we started walking over here and then some dude was like, you guys gotta have masks on if you're going down there, they're shooting out tear gas."

Since 9:15 p.m., Portland Police stated the scene is no longer a riot.

"We are receiving inquiries regarding action at the ICE facility. PPB has made 1 arrest for Assault on a Peace Officer. We have been informed of 1 injury to a federal officer who did not require treatment. The situation is stable and there is no riot at this time," Police stated in a post on X. "We currently are not observing criminal activity. We continue to monitor the situation."

The Portland Police Bureau reiterated that it does not engage in immigration enforcement, as outlined in PPB Directive 810.10, but remains "responsible for maintaining public safety and enforcing state laws."

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