Limits feds’ use of weapons

Judge limits feds’ use of weapons against anti-ICE protesters in Portland

It’s a win for plaintiffs, including one known as the “Portland Chicken,” in a lawsuit claiming the Trump administration is trampling the First Amendment.

By Josh Gerstein, Kyle Cheney and Natalie Fertig

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.

Simon’s order, which will be in effect for 14 days but could be extended, prohibits DHS agents from using “chemical or projectile munitions” at the site “unless the specific target of such a weapon or device poses an imminent threat of physical harm to a law enforcement officer or other person.” The judge also forbade DHS personnel from firing any type of weapon “at the head, neck, or torso of any person, unless the officer is legally justified in using deadly force against that person.”

Simon also made clear that he is barring DHS from using weapons, tear gas or other irritants against protesters who are obstructing access to the federal facility or trespassing, but not engaging in violence.

The order applies only to protests in the vicinity of the Portland ICE facility that has been a focal point for protests since early 2025, though crowds did not begin to clash with federal officers until June. In late September, President Donald Trump mobilized the National Guard to protect the facility, but a federal judge in October blocked the deployment.

The ICE office’s location in south Portland, in a mixed-use residential and commercial neighborhood with schools and businesses, has increased scrutiny on federal agents’ use of pepper spray and other munitions. Over the weekend, witnesses recorded a video of a girl receiving care after allegedly being tear-gassed during a daytime protest.

“Rioters and terrorists have assaulted law enforcement, launched fireworks at them, slashed the tires of their vehicles and vandalized federal property,” McLaughlin said.

“Others have chosen to ignore commands and have attempted to impede law enforcement operations and used their vehicles as weapons against our officers. Assaulting and obstructing law enforcement is a felony. Despite these grave threats and dangerous situations our law enforcement [h]as followed their training and used the minimum amount of force necessary to protect themselves, the public, and federal property,” she said.

The lawsuit the judge acted on Tuesday was filed in November by the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon on behalf of protesters who claimed to have witnessed and experienced use of excessive force by DHS agents. Among the plaintiffs is Jack Dickinson, better known as “the Portland Chicken,” who has attended protests in what the judge described as “a yellow-fleece chicken costume with an American flag draped over his shoulders like a cape.”

Dickinson contends he has been repeatedly pepper sprayed and had pepper balls fired at him, even though he did not obstruct access to the facility.

“Several protestors describe DHS officers shooting into nonviolent crowds from dangerous angles like the roof of the Portland ICE Building,” the judge wrote. “This is strong circumstantial evidence of Defendants’ intent to punish the crowd for their expression.”

“These occurrences are not infrequent. Indeed, they are escalating,” he added.

While a Supreme Court ruling last year reined in the ability of judges to issue broad injunctions, Simon said it was lawful and appropriate to limit DHS’s tactics against all protesters at the facility, not just the ones who filed suit. “Were the Court only to enjoin Defendants from teargassing the named Plaintiffs, for example, airborne chemicals from Defendants’ use of gas against other protestors would continue to chill Plaintiffs’ First Amendment rights,” the judge wrote.

Sen. Ron Wyden welcomed Simon’s decision.

“Today’s ruling is a win for Oregonians who care about common sense and common decency,” said Wyden, a Democrat. “The judge put it well when he stressed how the First Amendment sets America apart from totalitarian regimes and that this administration’s default reaction to opposition is violence against peaceful protesters and observers in Portland and far too many other U.S. cities.”