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Judge Says ACLU Can Add Federal Agencies To Lawsuit Against Portland Police

Federal law enforcement officers use tear gas to disperse protesters during demonstrate against racism and police violence in front of the Mark O. Hatfield federal courthouse on July 12, 2020. Earlier in the night, federal law enforcement officers shot a demonstrator in the head with a less lethal impact munition, causing severe injury.
Jonathan Levinson
/
OPB
Federal law enforcement officers use tear gas to disperse protesters during demonstrate against racism and police violence in front of the Mark O. Hatfield federal courthouse on July 12, 2020. Earlier in the night, federal law enforcement officers shot a demonstrator in the head with a less lethal impact munition, causing severe injury.

U.S. District Judge Michael Simon has agreed to allow attorneys for the Oregon ACLU to add the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Marshals Service as defendants in its lawsuit alleging police are targeting journalists and legal observers covering ongoing protests in Portland.


The decisionopens the door for the ACLU to file a temporary restraining order against federal law enforcement, and to seek similar restrictions to those Simon has already placed on Portland police.

Attorneys working with the ACLU argued during a Thursday hearing that federal agents have been coordinating with the Portland Police Bureau and that it was logical that federal agents be met with the same restrictions that Portland police officers are bound by. 

Attorneys point to the night of July 11 into the early hours of July 12, where, filings allege, dozens of federal agents came out of the Justice Center, where the Portland police are based, and “began a campaign of wholesale violence.” Later on in the night, the filings say, Portland police joined the agents, working in tandem with them to clear the streets. 

The city argued that its stance in regard to the federal officers had been one “of strong condemnation” and that the city had no control over federal agents that night. They said the plaintiffs should make their claims against the federal agents in a separate lawsuit. 

In order to officially make federal law enforcement a part of the suit, attorneys with the ACLU still need to file an updated complaint, followed by a temporary restraining order.
Copyright 2020 Oregon Public Broadcasting

Rebecca Ellis is a reporter with Oregon Public Broadcasting. Before joining OPB, she was a Kroc Fellow at NPR, filing stories for the National Desk in Washington D.C. and reporting from Salt Lake City.