An Oregon judge temporarily barred federal officers from firing “chemical or projectile munitions” at anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement protesters in Portland on Tuesday.
The ruling, issued by U.S. District Judge Michael Simon, applies to tear gas, pepper spray, less-lethal shotguns, rubber ball grenades, and various other weapons. Officers have often used such munitions to maintain crowd control in Portland and elsewhere.
The weapons can be used if the “specific target of such a weapon or device poses an imminent threat of physical harm to a law enforcement officer or other person,” Simon wrote in the opinion. The temporary restraining order against federal personnel will remain in effect for 14 days unless extended.
The federal judge said officers are also prohibited from firing munitions “at the head, neck, or torso of any person, unless the officer is legally justified in using deadly force against that person.”
The ruling marks a win for protesters and journalists represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon. The defendants argued that their First Amendment rights were being violated while protesting or covering demonstrations outside the ICE office in Portland.
Their lawsuit was filed against the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and President Donald Trump.
The judge found that the “repeated shooting and teargassing of nonviolent protesters at the Portland ICE Building will likely keep recurring against Plaintiffs and the members of the putative class.”
“Defendants’ violence is in no way isolated. Similarly, 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,” he wrote.
“Rather than reprimanding DHS violence against protesters, senior officials have publicly condoned it,” he said on the previous page of the court document.
DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin disputed the court’s conclusion, saying it “is taking appropriate and constitutional measures to uphold the rule of law and protect our officers and the public from dangerous rioters.” She noted that rioting is not protected under the First Amendment.
Portland Mayor Keith Wilson responded favorably to the ruling, which he said confirms that “federal agents have used unconscionable levels of force against a community exercising their constitutional right to free expression.”
Federal officers clashed with local protesters outside the city’s ICE office last year, prompting Trump to deploy the National Guard to protect the federal facility. A federal judge permanently blocked that deployment in November.
One month later, Trump announced he had withdrawn the National Guard from Portland, Chicago, and Los Angeles, as each city’s deployment faced setbacks in court.
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Related to the crowd-control tactics that federal officers use, a federal appeals court indefinitely paused a lower court’s ruling that restricted the use of tear gas, pepper spray, or other means against protesters in Minnesota.
Minneapolis has been a hot spot for anti-ICE protests since federal immigration officers killed Renee Good and Alex Pretti last month. Following the shootings, Noem announced her department would deploy body cameras to every federal officer based in Minneapolis.