Hours after a federal judge paused the Trump administration’s plans to deploy 200 members of the Oregon National Guard to Portland on Saturday, federal law enforcement officers escalated the tactics used on protesters in the city.
Outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility, federal officers pushed crowds of protesters hundreds of yards down city streets and fired tear gas, flash-bang grenades and pepper balls without any clear signs of provocation.
Officials with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
More than 100 protesters demonstrated against federal law enforcement at the ICE building Saturday evening, much as they have in previous nights. They heckled officers and denounced participation in President Donald Trump’s mass deportation policies. A few dozen activists also joined the crowd demonstrating in support of ICE.
Federal officers interrupted the scene with a show of force unlike previous nights. It began shortly after 8 p.m. with dozens of officers marching out of the driveway and moving the crowd to make way for vehicles.
Then, unlike the typical driveway clearing they did previous nights, officers began to push the crowds farther into the neighborhood by several blocks. As protesters loudly wondered why they were being asked to step back on public city streets, officers methodically marched the crowds down two separate streets on either side of the ICE facility: South Bancroft Street and South Moody Avenue.
Related: Judge halts deployment of Oregon National Guard, Trump administration files appeal
Federal officers were flanked by videographers, toting professional equipment and wearing high-visibility vests. They filmed from behind the lines of officers, capturing the show of force. At least two drones swept over the scenes.
The march continued for roughly 15 minutes. They pushed the crowd on Bancroft down to its intersection with South Bond Avenue. There, after a pause, they dropped tear gas and other chemical munitions at protesters’ feet and legs. Officers then marched back to the ICE building in a similar, stuttered fashion, punctuating each stop with gas and volleys of pepper balls.
Officers similarly pushed a group of protesters and other people northbound through South Moody Avenue.
Federal officers watch as gas they’ve deployed fills the air around protesters outside of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in southwest Portland.
Troy Brynelson / OPB
As protesters stumbled backwards, many asked why the federal officers were taking the action. They asked if it was meant to be a provocation.
“What I saw is that they wanted us to fight,” said one protester, who called herself Rainbow. She declined to give her full name out of fear for her safety. “They just kept pushing us back and there was nowhere we could go.”
Rainbow, who has been demonstrating at the ICE facility for months, pointed to a white mark on her black pants where she said she was shot with a flash-bang.
“Tonight’s been different,” said another protester who said she has been protesting outside of the ICE building in South Portland since May. She asked to remain anonymous out of concern for her safety. “It’s a lot of gas, a lot more than in the past. And a lot more aggression. If there’s a war zone in Portland, it’s because of them.”
It’s unclear what triggered the strategy from federal officers. OPB reporters on scene saw only one person arrested and carried inside, which occurred right as federal law enforcement started to clear the driveway.
OPB emailed questions to DHS and the Portland Police Bureau about the night’s events and what might have prompted the use of tear gas and other munitions. DHS did not respond.
Related: Dueling narratives on Portland protests head to court in National Guard case
After clearing the streets, several officers removed a large banner reading “Abolish ICE” from a fence facing the building.
“DHS agents have just RIPPED DOWN the massive ‘Abolish ICE’ banner outside the ICE facility in Portland,” conservative media figure Nick Sortor wrote in a post on X. “Trump’s DHS has made it very clear tonight: they WILL NOT bow down to Antifa — even if Portland Police refuse to assist.”
After a minimal presence for several months, an increasing number of right-leaning activists and livestreamers have been drawn to the protests in recent days, particularly after the Thursday arrest of Sortor by Portland police. On Saturday night, they waved banners and cheered when officers shot tear gas, flash-bangs and pepper balls toward the crowd of protesters.
Several officers with the Portland Police Bureau witnessed the events. The officers took no action, telling protesters afterward that they cannot intervene with federal law enforcement. A PPB spokesperson declined to comment.
Federal officers had shot tear gas into a group earlier in the day after protesters had marched to the building from a nearby park. Federal law enforcement made at least seven arrests by Saturday afternoon. The crowd had largely dispersed by around 3 p.m.
Related: ‘OPB Politics Now’: President Trump targets Portland
Holly, an organizer who was arrested and released around 5 p.m. Saturday, said being inside the ICE facility galvanized her opposition to the agency. She said she supports the city of Portland’s efforts to explore revoking the building’s permit.
“If anything, my experience made me just want to see this facility shut down more than I did before,” she said.
Federal officers confront protesters at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility, Portland, Ore., Oct. 4, 2025.
Eden McCall / OPB
Trump’s order likely to inflame protests, judge says
Around 4:30 p.m., U.S. District Court Judge Karin Immergut temporarily blocked Trump’s deployment of 200 members of the Oregon National Guard, which he authorized last week. The Trump administration filed a notice late Saturday that it was appealing the decision.
The ruling is part of a larger lawsuit the state and city filed last week asking the courts to find Trump’s deployment unlawful.
In granting the restraining order, Immergut noted that before Trump’s order, protests “generally did not involve violence against federal property or personnel” and “do not approach the level of disruption to federal functions.”
She said the president’s deployment of federal troops was likely to inflame protests, as it had done in past deployments in Portland and Los Angeles.
During Friday’s hearing, Eric Hamilton, an attorney with the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Division testified that multiple branches of the Department of Homeland Security ramped up their response to Portland’s protest, saying more than 100 federal officers with the Federal Protective Service were called to protect the ICE building.
Prior to Trump floating the deployment of the National Guard, Oregon officials held a press conference suggesting an uptick in federal law enforcement was aimed at goading protesters into a conflict. They urged peaceful demonstrations, repeatedly describing the Trump administration’s actions as a trap.
The clouds of stinging gas Saturday forced protesters to splinter off, splashing water in their eyes and dry heaving on side streets, but it didn’t deter demonstrators.
By 10:30 p.m., the earlier crowd grouped in front of the ICE building appeared to have doubled in size.
Conrad Wilson contributed reporting.
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