Accusing federal agents of illegally detaining peaceful protesters here, the state of Oregon went to court on Wednesday and filed the case of a 29-year-old Mark Pettibone.
“I was terrified when an unidentified truck pulled up near me and men in military uniform jumped up and approached me without identifying themselves,” he said in written testimony describing how officers caught him in downtown Portland in the early hours of the July 15 and they took him. in federal court for questioning.
“No one informed me which agency had kidnapped, detained or interrogated me,” he said. “I still don’t know what agency or agencies were involved.”
Federal District Judge Michael Mosman said he believed in the account and that the agents had no probable cause to arrest Pettibone, a Portland resident.
But the judge did not say whether to grant the temporary restraining order requested by Oregon Atty. General Ellen Rosenblum, who is suing four federal law enforcement agencies to require that officers properly identify themselves, stop making arrests without a warrant or probable cause, and explain to people why they are being detained.
Rosenblum told the court that illegal detentions are an intimidating tactic designed to scare people into not exercising their First Amendment right to demonstrate peacefully.
The Trump administration has argued that the agents have acted within the law and only addressed protesters who have probable cause to believe that they have damaged US property or assaulted federal officials.
David Morrell, an attorney for the US Department of Justice, told the court that a court order would expose officers to legal risk and have a “serious effect” on their ability to do their job.
While the judge said she sided with the state attorney general on Pettibone’s example, she expressed skepticism about the only other example she brought up: a video that has been circulating on social media showing a man who was taken to the truck.
Mosman said the video alone could not show whether the agents had probable cause. He did not say when he would issue a ruling.
As of Wednesday afternoon, federal agents had arrested 42 people in connection with the protests, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon.
A spokesman said 26 of them face federal charges including assaulting a federal officer and arson. Two have misdemeanor citations, 12 have been released without charge, and two are still under investigation.
President Trump, who described the protesters as anarchists, said Wednesday that he would double the tactics in Portland and send a “surge in federal law enforcement” to Chicago and Albuquerque as part of the “law and order” platform that have. adopted for his presidential campaign.
Portland’s political leaders have opposed the federal presence, and the City Council voted Wednesday to ban police from cooperating with officials from the US Department of Homeland Security, the Marshals Service, the Federal Protective Service. and Customs and Border Protection.
Mayor Ted Wheeler, Oregon Governor Kate Brown, and the state’s Democratic congressional delegation have asked Trump to remove federal agents from the city.
The nightly protests, which started after the May 25 murder of George Floyd by the Minneapolis police, have shown little sign of abating.
In the hours before dawn on Wednesday, a group of women in bicycle helmets and goggles calling themselves the “Wall of Moms” joined forces to form a barrier between federal agents and protesters.
“I am here to show presence as a mother and grandmother, and to fight for a better future for my children,” said one of the women, Heather Swearingen, 57, as black-clad protesters hammered home shields on the sidewalk in front of the United States Courthouse Mark O. Hatfield.
Women are known as “Moms Against Police Brutality” or “Momtifa”, a play about Antifa, the anti-fascist movement. Like the participants in the “Bloque de Papá”, many followers say they are suburban people who have not been involved but now want to make their voices heard.
Swearingen said she was “radicalized” in action by the images of violence in press reports.
Federal agents launched tear gas columns that turned into impenetrable clouds, pierced only by white flashes of a series of “less lethal” munitions. Activists used leaf blowers, hockey sticks, and traffic cones to repel tear gas canisters.
Agents repeatedly assaulted the crowd, pushing protesters through the park while making arrests. By 3:15 am, the crowd of thousands had dwindled to less than 100. The daily routine was done.
On Wednesday night, activists began to meet again. Dressed in a cloth face mask and blue gloves, Chloe Kramer, 19, folded T-shirts, bandages, and hand wipes, prepared supplies for protesters, and sprayed saline on the eyes of those who are gassed.
“The police have gassed and haunted me for weeks,” Kramer said. “I’m already so used to it that I’m not afraid of being on the front line.”
Times staff writers Read and Etehad reported from Seattle and Portland, respectively. Special correspondent Yau reported from Portland.
