Arrests made at protest outside Portland ICE facility Friday night

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Arrests were made by law enforcement agents at a protest outside the Portland ICE facility Friday night.

The Portland Police Bureau arrested two people at the protest for allegedly blocking the street from vehicles passing through. Earlier in the evening, federal law enforcement agents detained an individual after they allegedly stepped onto the ICE facility property.

KOIN 6 News crews were on the scene outside the federal building on South Macadam Avenue, where protests continued, as the threat looms of President Trump deploying Oregon National Guard troops in the coming days.

According to witnesses, a protester had crossed the blue line, indicating they were stepping on federal property, after which about 10 federal law enforcement agents ran after them across the street and tackled the person. The person was then taken behind the gate and into the ICE facility building.

In a separate incident later on in the night, Portland police arrested two people for allegedly blocking neighborhood traffic on South Bancroft Street after giving the crowd multiple warnings to clear the street for traffic, according to the PPB Events Messages X account.

This comes after a tense protest outside the ICE facility took place on Thursday night, in which federal agents deployed pepper balls and pepper-spray at protesters. That same night, three people were arrested, including a prominent right-wing influencer, by the Portland Police Bureau for allegedly getting into physical fights.

Portland Police Association President Sgt. Aaron Schmautz told KOIN 6 News that PPB’s role during protests is very different than that of federal law enforcement agents, noting PPB officers do not engage in the enforcement of immigration laws.

“So, everything that we do, all our entire crowd control response is born out of the events of 2020. Specifically, the DOJ, we have a consent decree. They instructed and informed a lot of that,” Schmautz said.

Portland police now use officers in white shirts, known as community liaison officers.

“We have liaison officers who are specifically assigned to be present to kind of help navigate who might help, but they are also not there specifically to engage or run into or investigate crime.”

PPB also has officers on bikes and others patrolling on foot during protests, though they may not make their presence known. All of this is in the name of keeping the peace, Schmautz said.

“Every single person who puts a uniform on does it with the desire to serve their community. They’re doing their level best. There’s new information and very confounding circumstances. But it is just an incredibly untenable situation,” Schmautz said.

After the individual was arrested by federal agents outside the ICE facility on Friday night, the incident appeared to upset other people at the demonstration. Randall Blazak, a sociologist and part of Cure PNW, is part of a group that comes to the demonstrations every week to teach people de-escalation skills in what can be a highly contentious environment.

“Part of this has been teaching de-escalation skills, giving people skills in the protest movement and as well as with the police to help sort of bring things down when the tensions get high, because people get very emotional,” Blazak said.

On Friday, there were many different groups outside the federal facility, not just anti-ICE protesters. There appeared to be counter-protesters, as there was on Thursday night, as well as different people in media documenting what’s happening, and people from around the state just observing what’s happening.