Portland, Ore.– An Oregon judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked federal officers from using tear gas at protests at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland, just days after agents blocked them from using tear gas. She fired gas into a crowd of people The protesters, including young children, were described by local officials as peaceful.
U.S. District Judge Michael Simon ordered federal officers not to use chemical or projectile munitions against people who do not pose an imminent threat of physical harm, are merely trespassing or refuse to disperse. Simon also prohibited federal officers from firing munitions into the head, neck, or torso “unless the officer has lawful justification to use deadly force against that person.”
The nation is “now at a crossroads,” Simon wrote, whose temporary restraining order is in effect for 14 days.
“In a well-functioning constitutional democratic republic, freedom of expression, courageous newsgathering and nonviolent protest are all permitted, respected and even celebrated,” he wrote. “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 ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon on behalf of protesters and independent journalists covering demonstrations at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building.
The lawsuit names the Department of Homeland Security and its head as defendants Kristi NoemAnd so is the president Donald Trump. It says federal officers’ use of chemical munitions and excessive force is retaliation against protesters, undermining their First Amendment rights.
The Department of Homeland Security said the federal officers “followed their training and used the minimum force necessary to protect themselves, the public, and federal property.”
“DHS is taking appropriate and constitutional actions to uphold the rule of law and protect our officers and the public from dangerous rioters,” DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said.
Cities across the country saw demonstrations against the administration’s increased immigration enforcement.
Last month, a federal appeals court suspended A resolution Which prohibited federal officers from using tear gas or pepper spray against peaceful protesters in Minnesota who are not obstructing law enforcement. The Court of Appeal also suspended A to rule A federal judge in Chicago barred federal agents from using certain riot weapons, such as tear gas and pepper balls, unless necessary to prevent an immediate threat. A similar lawsuit has now been filed by the state before the same judge.
Oregon’s complaint describes instances in which the plaintiffs — including a well-known protester dressed as a chicken, a couple in their 80s and freelance journalists — used chemical or “less lethal” munitions against them.
In October, Vietnam War veteran Richard Eckman, 83, and his wife, Lori Eckman, 84, joined a peaceful march to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement building. Federal officers then fired chemical munitions into the crowd, struck Lori Eckman in the head with a pepper ball and caused her to bleed, according to the complaint. With blood-soaked clothes and hair, she sought treatment at a hospital, which gave her concussion care instructions. A munitions unit also struck her husband’s walker, the complaint says.
According to the complaint, Jack Dickinson, who frequently attends protests at the ICE building in a chicken suit, had ammunition pointed at him but did not pose any threat. The complaint says federal officers fired respirator munitions into his face and back, and fired a tear gas canister that sparked a spark near his leg and tore a hole in his uniform.
The complaint says freelance journalists Hugo Rios and Mason Lake were similarly subjected to pepper balls and tear gas while tagging the press.
“The defendants should be prohibited from gassing, shooting, beating, and arresting peaceful Portland residents and journalists wishing to document federal abuses as if they were enemy combatants,” the complaint reads.
The owner and residents of the affordable housing complex across the street from the ICE building filed a separate lawsuit, similarly seeking to restrict federal officers’ use of tear gas because residents have been repeatedly exposed over the past year.
Local officials also spoke out against the use of chemical munitions. Portland Mayor Keith Wilson demanded that Immigration and Customs Enforcement leave the city after federal officers used such munitions on Saturday in what he described as a “peaceful daytime protest in which the vast majority of those in attendance violated no laws, posed no threat, and posed no danger to federal forces.”
“To those who continue to work for ICE: Resign. And to those who control this facility: Resign,” Wilson wrote in a statement Saturday night.
The protest was one of many similar demonstrations across the country against the immigration crackdown in cities such as MinneapolisIn recent weeks, federal agents killed two people, Alex Peretti and Renee Goode.
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Associated Press writers Steve Karnovsky in Minneapolis and Sophia Tarin in Chicago contributed.