A federal judge in Oregon has imposed new restrictions on the deployment of tear gas and other crowd-control measures by federal agents during protests at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland.
U.S. District Judge Michael Simon delivered a preliminary injunction following a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon, representing both demonstrators and freelance journalists. The legal action targets the Department of Homeland Security, contending that the deployment of chemical munitions by officers serves as a retaliatory measure that infringes on First Amendment rights.
The decision came after a three-day hearing featuring testimonies from individuals such as a protester known for donning a chicken costume, a couple in their 80s, and two freelance journalists. They recounted experiences of federal officers employing chemical sprays and projectile devices against them.
In his detailed opinion, Simon noted that the court received video evidence showing officers applying OC spray directly onto protesters’ faces, who were mostly engaged in passive resistance, and using tear gas and pepper-ball rounds on crowds.
On January 31, 2026, federal agents deployed tear gas and flash bangs against protesters outside the ICE building in Portland, Oregon. (Photo by Allison Barr/The Oregonian via AP)
“The plaintiffs presented numerous videos as evidence, clearly depicting DHS officers directly spraying OC spray into the faces of peaceful, nonviolent protesters and firing tear gas and pepper-ball munitions into crowds,” Simon stated.
“Defendants’ conduct — physically harming protestors and journalists without prior dispersal warnings — is objectively chilling.”
The Department of Homeland Security has previously said that the agents have “followed their training and used the minimum amount of force necessary to protect themselves, the public, and federal property.”
A federal judge also ruled to restrict agents’ use of tear gas in a separate case brought by the residents of an affordable housing complex across the street from the ICE building.
This comes amid demonstrations across the country against President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda.
In his ruling, Simon barred agents from using chemical or projectile munitions such as pepper balls and tear gas unless someone poses an imminent threat of physical harm. He also instructed agents not to fire munitions at the head, neck or torso “unless the officer is legally justified in using deadly force against that person.”
Jack Dickinson, dressed in a chicken costume, looks to other protesters outside a United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Portland, Oregon, Monday, Oct. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Agents are also prohibited from the use of pepper spray against a group in an indiscriminate way that would affect bystanders. Additionally, they must only target people who are engaging in violent unlawful conduct or actively resisting arrest, or use it “as reasonably necessary in a defensive capacity.”
Simon said that trespassing, refusing to move and refusing to obey an order to disperse are acts of passive resistance, not active resistance.
The judge also granted provisional class certification, which means his order covers a broader group of all people who have peacefully protested or reported on demonstrations at the ICE building in recent months.
The preliminary injunction will remain in place while the lawsuit proceeds.
Last month, Portland Mayor Keith Wilson called on ICE to leave the city after federal officers deployed tear gas at a crowd of demonstrators outside the agency’s building. The mayor described the protests as peaceful and criticized federal officers’ use of pepper balls, flash-bang grenades and rubber bullets.
Law enforcement officers look out from an ICE facility on Oct. 21, 2025, in Portland, Oregon. (Jenny Kane/AP)
“Federal forces deployed heavy waves of chemical munitions, impacting a peaceful daytime protest where the vast majority of those present violated no laws, made no threat, and posed no danger to federal forces,” he said in a statement at the time.
“To those who continue to work for ICE: Resign. To those who control this facility: Leave,” he said, accusing federal officials of “trampling the Constitution.”
