U.S. Border Patrol shot and injured two people in Portland Thursday afternoon, police said, spurring protests that sent hundreds into the streets even as local authorities scrambled to get answers themselves.
The shooting, which happened in a hospital parking lot in East Portland, came the day after immigration agents in Minneapolis shot and killed a U.S. citizen in her car.
In Portland, authorities said a man and a woman were shot during a traffic stop around 2:15 p.m. and taken to local hospitals. Their identities and condition were not made public late Thursday.
Portland Mayor Keith Wilson condemned the shooting in an angry press conference attended by Democratic Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek and other local officials. He asked Immigration and Customs Enforcement “to halt all operations” in the city. Portland has weathered months of protests outside the ICE facility in town and drawn national attention from President Donald Trump’s attempts to deploy the military.
What we know so far
U.S. Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin issued a statement alleging both the driver and the passenger were members of the “vicious Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua” and that the passenger had been involved in a prostitution ring and a recent shooting in Portland.
“When agents identified themselves to the vehicle occupants, the driver weaponized his vehicle and attempted to run over the law enforcement agents,” McLaughlin said. “Fearing for his life and safety, an agent fired a defensive shot. The driver drove off with the passenger, fleeing the scene. This situation is evolving, and more information is forthcoming.”
OPB could not immediately confirm the allegations.
Portland police confirmed the basic timeline of events but did not offer additional details at the evening press conference, saying the FBI is leading an investigation into the matter.
The FBI confirmed two Border Patrol agents were involved in the incident and said it is investigating the incident as “an assault on a federal officer.”
The incident unfolded in a matter of minutes Thursday afternoon. Portland police received the call around 2:18 p.m. about a report of a shooting and responded to the 10200 block of Southeast Main Street, near the Adventist Health campus.
Six minutes later, officers were called to a different location: Northeast 146th Avenue and East Burnside. That’s where they found the man and woman injured in the officer-involved shooting. Officers provided medical aid and called paramedics.
The two wounded people were taken to separate Portland hospitals. A staff member at Legacy Emanuel, who asked to remain anonymous, said FBI agents had been in the hospital overnight.
Late Thursday, Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield, a Democrat, announced his own investigation into the incident, focused on “whether any federal officer acted outside the scope of their lawful authority.”
Hundreds protest at ICE; 6 arrested
The shooting in Portland came as people across the city were already staging protests over the Wednesday killing in Minneapolis, but the focus quickly shifted to Portland’s own incident as the evening wore on. Both cities have stood in fierce opposition to Trump’s immigration enforcement agenda.
Outside the Portland ICE facility, nearly 500 people gathered and chanted slogans opposing immigration enforcement.
Jen Waldron, a Portland business owner protesting at the ICE building, called the incident “horrific.” Protester Rachel Lissman, who lives in the city, said it was “only a matter of time” before someone was killed by ICE.
“I’m hoping that if anything good can come out of this, that the communities all over the United States can wake up and do what’s happening here, which is to peacefully assemble,” Lissman said, “and tell our government what we think of what’s happening.”
Around 7:45 p.m., Portland police officers with the bureau’s crowd control unit arrived and asked people to clear the street. Police pushed the crowd onto the sidewalks and out of the street to let a vehicle enter the ICE facility, angering protesters.
About an hour later, Portland police announced over a loudspeaker that they observed criminal activity and would be making targeted arrests. Several dozen officers began pushing the crowd back while demonstrators shouted at them, saying they should arrest immigration enforcement officers and defend protesters.
Police announced early Friday morning that six people had been arrested during the protest. All six were charged with disorderly conduct. Five were also charged with disorderly conduct and interfering with a peace officer; two of them were also charged with rioting.
Unlike previous protests outside the Portland ICE building, federal officers largely stood back during the early hours of the demonstration and did not engage the crowd.
Hundreds more attend vigil, urge calm
More than 200 people also gathered outside City Hall Thursday evening for a peaceful vigil where city councilors, union leaders and other community activists spoke out against federal immigration enforcement.
“It is really concerning that ICE is allowed to just walk the streets,” said Portland resident Nikita Daryanani, who attended the vigil.
“I don’t blame people for being afraid,” Daryanani said.
Portland’s mayor and other local leaders urged calm while calling the federal narrative into question.
“We know what the federal government says happened here,” Wilson said. “There was a time when we could take them on their word. That time has long passed. We are calling on ICE to halt all operations in Portland until a full investigation can take place.”
Speaking alongside Wilson, Kotek and a broad array of elected, faith and community leaders urged Oregonians to react to the shooting peacefully — and for federal immigration authorities to leave Portland.
“We are all shaken and outraged by another terrible, unnecessary, violent event instigated by the reckless agenda of the Trump administration,” Kotek said, nodding to the Wednesday shooting in Minnesota. “This time in our own state.”
State Sen. Christine Drazan, a Republican from Canby running to unseat Kotek, issued a statement hours after the press conference that appeared to be a direct response to it.
“I am disappointed, but not surprised, to see our state’s politicians rush to judgment and treat dangerous criminals like victims,” Drazan said, adding that she wanted gang members off the street and that an investigation would determine whether the shooting was warranted. “The last thing we need in a moment like this is a bunch of grandstanding politicians exploiting this situation and inciting fear to advance their own political agendas.”
Portland Police Chief Bob Day urged caution in what he called “the early stages” of the incident.
“We understand the heightened emotion and tension many are feeling in the wake of the shooting in Minneapolis,” Day said, “but I am asking the community to remain calm as we work to learn more.”
City Council session disrupted as news breaks
The incident sent ripples of concern across Portland even before any details were known.
Portland City Council was in session Thursday afternoon when councilors were first alerted to a possible shooting. City Council President Elana Pirtle-Guiney interrupted the meeting: “Councilors, we actually need to recess immediately.”
Council reconvened roughly an hour after it recessed.
“I’m sorry to be delivering this news today,” Pirtle-Guiney said, citing the shooting as well as the deadly incident in Minneapolis.
The three city councilors who represent District 1 issued a joint statement in response to the shooting. Councilors Candace Avalos, Jamie Dunphy and Loretta Smith said the shooting involved “two of our East Portland neighbors.”
They said the incident “is part of a pattern of violence that we have seen too many times across our country.”
Hours after Thursday’s shooting, light rail trains were still running past the yellow caution tape strung across the scene. Police and emergency vehicles lined the streets.
Two Subarus drove back and forth past the scene of the shooting at Southeast 102nd Avenue and Main Street, blaring an anti-Donald Trump song and screaming profanity about ICE.
During the evening, as some children ran down 146th Avenue playing with sticks, a woman stepped out of her apartment and told them not to speak to each other in Spanish, and not to open the door if anyone came to their apartment.
OPB’s Troy Brynelson, Holly Bartholomew, Amelia Templeton and Joni Auden Land contributed to this report.
