PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — As the federal government escalates their tactics concerning the protests outside the Portland ICE facility, dozens more demonstrators marched, waved signs and showed their resistance on Sunday.
With ICE agents on the roof standing next to social media influencers with cameras, the on-ground protesters walked back and forth carrying signs urging the Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel to leave.
Protesters who spoke with KOIN 6 News were unanimously opposed to National Guard troops being deployed to Portland to deal with the protests.
Sunday’s gathering outside the South Portland facility comes on the heels of a federal judge blocking President Trump’s decision to deploy National Guard troops to the city, then Trump appealing the ruling followed by his decision to send 200 California National Guard troops to Portland and Oregon’s announcement Sunday afternoon they’ve added California as a complainant in their lawsuit and hope to be back in court on Monday.
As of 5:30 p.m. Sunday, no National Guard troops were seen at the facility.
While there is some activity going on among the few dozen protesters, it is for the most part pretty quiet.
Portland police liaison officers wearing white shirts were visible on the perimeter of the crowd. Their assigned role is de-escalation, making sure everyone stays cool-headed and calm during the protest. There are also bike patrol officers who periodically go through and help clear the roads for traffic.
During a Sunday afternoon press conference announcing their latest lawsuit against the Trump administration, Gov. Tina Kotek said they’ve received credible information there are right-wing social media influencers on the roof of the ICE facility taking videos in what looks like a coordinated effort with federal agents.
Portland Mayor Keith Wilson said at that same press conference they have seen federal troops intentionally inflaming the situation, and listed a number of things crowd control doesn’t generally need to do generally, including seeing snipers on the roof of the ICE facility.
Ariel Salk
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