Judge limits feds' use of weapons against anti-ICE protesters in Portland
Source: Politico
02/03/2026 06:56 PM EST
A judge has ordered federal agents to stop firing tear gas and other crowd-control weapons at peaceful protesters and journalists who regularly gather outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland, Oregon. U.S. District Judge Michael Simon said in his ruling Tuesday that the use of force by federal agents appeared targeted at journalists or protesters expressing opposition to the Trump administration’s deportation policies. And the judge said the wanton use of force appeared to be encouraged by Department of Homeland Security leaders in Washington.
“Statements made by DHS officials and senior federal executives show that the culture of the agency and its employees is to celebrate violent responses over fair and diplomatic ones,” Simon wrote in the 22-page opinion. “Rather than reprimanding DHS violence against protesters, senior officials have publicly condoned it.”
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that DHS “is taking appropriate and constitutional measures to uphold the rule of law and protect our officers and the public from dangerous rioters.”
Simon, an Obama appointee, is the fourth judge to restrict DHS officials’ crowd control tactics during enforcement operations that the administration has launched in Democrat-run cities. Judges in Minneapolis, Chicago and Los Angeles issued similar orders, though each was later blocked by appellate courts.
Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2026/02/03/dhs-anti-ice-protests-portland-00763668
Link to ORDER (PDF) - https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ord.190589/gov.uscourts.ord.190589.68.0.pdf
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