Portland City Councilor Koyama Lane calls for recommitment to Vision Zero
Federal Violence Continues Over Weekend at Portland ICE Protest.
Agata Sobieska
Portland, OR.
(Photo Credit: Agata Sobieska - Macadam ICE Facility Portland, OR - Jan. 31st 2026)
State violence saturated this weekend as several protests held at the Macadam ICE facility were met with a near immediate and heavy chemical weapon attack by the Department of Homeland Security.
This has mirrored the massive uptick in anti-ICE direct action that has erupted across the United States following the murders of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti.
The weekend of political actions kicked off on Friday, when Portlanders joined nationwide walk out protesting the state sanctioned violence at the hands of ICE.
Demonstrators occupied the drive way of the Macadam ICE Facility, enduring chemical weapons and impact rounds: Which included hard marble like pellets fired from a pressurized launcher.
DHS Agents also made several detentions that night, including two high school students peacefully practicing their 1st amendment rights at the sidewalk front of the building.
(Photo Credit: Agata Sobieska - Macadam ICE Facility Portland, OR - Jan. 31st 2026)
DHS Agents were not the only ones committing violence however. Rightwing counter protestors, commonly referred to as “Chuds” by protestors, were also present.
These agitators, who have been holding a small presence at the protest site for months, have regularly engaged in numerous violent actions at the site.
On the night of the Nationwide Walk Out this meant not just inflammatory comments, but a sweeping deployment of mace which struck protestors and bystanders alike, including myself as I documented the incident.
This occurred right after a usual counter protestor by the name of Shayne Holt approached the frontline of the protest, shoving attendees while making violent threats towards the crowd. Members of the anti-ICE camp began creating a line between Holt and more vulnerable members of the crowd, which an associate of Holt responded with an indiscriminate line of mace spray.
(Photo Credit: Agata Sobieska - Elizabeth Caruthers Park Portland, OR - Jan. 31st 2026)
The next day the 31st, over several labor groups along with the DSA, organized an enormous rally which packed the streets of South Portland with thousands of people. The rally began with union members across various industries making their opposition to the current regime heard.
One labor group included the Oregon Nurses Association who made gave an emotional display of solidarity as the nation mourns the death of VA ICU nurse Alex Pretti. The rally then marched to the ICE facility where they were almost immediately met with the deployment of CS and HC gas, an irritant and vomiting agent respectively.
The chemical attack came despite the massive crowd, which comprised primarily of union workers and their families. Many regulars of the movement denounced the attack as an excessive and irresponsible show of force, which could have easily caused loss of life due to the size of the crowd.
Among those gassed in the crowd were several young children who required an eye flush which was given by trained volunteer medics.
(Photo Credit: Agata Sobieska - Macadam ICE Facility Portland, OR - Jan. 31st 2026)
Another bystander affected was a resident of Grays Landing, a low income apartment building across the street from the ICE facility, who had a their living room window shattered by a projectile fired by Federal Protective Service agent.
REACH Community Development's CEO, Jessica Salazar stated “This was not a distant, abstract incident; this was an attack on a home.”
These disgusting displays of violence did not deter the people of Portland however, who held a strong crowd late into the evening, once again occupying the facilities driveway.
Mayor Keith Wilson also denounced the violence against protestors, despite months of near silence on the horrors protestors have been experiencing since early June last year.
“To those who continue to work for ICE: Resign. To those who control this facility: Leave. Through your use of violence and the trampling of the Constitution, you have lost all legitimacy and replaced it with shame. To those who continue to make these sickening decisions, go home, look in a mirror, and ask yourselves why you have gassed children. Ask yourselves why you continue to work for an agency responsible for murders on American streets. No one is forcing you to lie to yourself, even as your bosses continue to lie to the American people”
Wilson writes in his statement on Saturday.
In the same address Wilson would go onto add: “Portland will continue to stand firmly with our immigrant neighbors, who deserve safety, dignity, and the full protection of the communities they help build. We are also proud of the Portlanders who showed up today in peaceful solidarity, demonstrating the strength and clarity of those shared values in the face of federal overreach.”
(Photo Credit: Agata Sobieska - City Hall Portland, OR - Feb. 1st 2026)
However many Portlanders feel the Mayor's words are far from enough, gathering Sunday the day after in front of City Hall, voicing their opposition to the city government's lack of action against ICE activity in Rose City.
The rally was organized by Portland Contra las Deportaciones, a local immigrant rights group that has been pressuring Portland's government to make a more impactful response to the violation of our city's sanctuary city status.
Hundreds amassed downtown before marching two miles from City Hall to the Macadam ICE Facility where demonstrators once again occupied the buildings driveway in a show of force and solidarity.
DHS teams carried out a brutal response, which many felt was an escalation from the nights before. Federal Agents fired pepper balls, OC impact munitions, tear gas, and hard marble like balls which left bruising on multiple protestors.
(Photo Credit: Agata Sobieska - Macadam ICE Facility Portland, OR - Feb. 1st 2026)
Due to stagnant wind conditions and cold temperatures the gas sank and sat in the area for almost an hour after. The poisonous clouds crawled for multiple blocks choking out the homes and businesses around Elizabeth Caruthers Park.
One woman was even observed walking her dog, mistaking the gas for fog before it began affecting her and her pet.
This weekend demonstrated both a new level of violence against protestors in Portland, but also in response a return to the direct radical action that was carried out by the community last summer.
(Photo Credit: Agata Sobieska - South Waterfront Portland, OR - Feb. 1st 2026)
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