Judge bans ICE from firing tear gas in Portland after peaceful protesters — including children — were gassed
A federal judge has temporarily blocked federal officers from firing tear gas at peaceful protesters near an immigration detention center in Portland, Oregon, after a man known as the “Portland Chicken” and other demonstrators alleged indiscriminate and targeted violence against them and others.
Those protesters range in age from senior citizens, including an 84-year-old woman who left a demonstration soaked in blood, to young children, the judge noted.
Tuesday’s order from District Judge Michael Simon came just days after federal officers deployed chemical agents and other riot control weapons during largely peaceful protests outside the city’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility, where children were seen coughing and flushing out their eyes with water after tear gas filled the streets.
The judge’s blistering order is among several recent decisions from federal courts across the country taking aim at ICE arrests and widespread protests against them as Donald Trump’s administration deploys thousands of officers to Democratic-led cities.
“In a well-functioning constitutional democratic republic, free speech, courageous newsgathering, and nonviolent protest are all permitted, respected, and even celebrated,” Judge Simon wrote at the top of his 22-page order. “In an authoritarian regime, that is not the case. Our nation is now at a crossroads.”
He added: “We have been here before and have previously returned to the right path, notwithstanding an occasional detour. In helping our nation find its constitutional compass, an impartial and independent judiciary operating under the rule of law has a responsibility that it may not shirk.”
The judge’s order blocks officers from using chemical agents and other projectiles for at least 14 days “at or in the vicinity of” the ICE office in Portland’s South Waterfront neighborhood, which has been a focal point of outrage against the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts.
Protests have exploded after federal officers fatally shot Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis this month..
Simon’s order also bars officers from targeting anyone’s head, neck or torso, “unless the officer is legally justified in using deadly force against that person.”
The order cites several instances in which demonstrators have faced violent force from federal officers near the building, including against 84-year-old Laurie Eckman, who was hit in the head with a “chemical impact munition” while holding a sign. “She walked home soaked in blood” and was later treated in an emergency room for a concussion, the judge wrote.
An officer also fired at her husband, 83-year-old Richard Eckman, who was using a walker, according to the judge.
Jack Dickinson — the lead plaintiff known as the “Portland Chicken” after regularly attending protests in a yellow-fleece chicken costume with an American flag draped over his shoulders like a cape — was shoved by an officer with so much force that he “stumbled approximately 15 to 20 feet through the street,” the judge wrote.
At another demonstration, while sitting “silently” on the edge of a driveway near a gate to the building, officers “fired a barrage of pepper balls” and pepper sprayed him in the face, the judge wrote.
The judge also noted several incidents targeting journalists, including a filmmaker who was shot in the groin and maced in the face.
