An estimated 50,000 protesters rallied in Portland's Waterfront Park on Saturday, June 14 for a “No Kings” demonstration, which was part of a nationwide series of protests against the Trump administration. 

Brought together by a wide blanket of concerns—the Trump administration’s general authoritarianism, accounts of unlawful detentions and disappearances, militarized forces used on unarmed Americans, and oligarchs existing beyond the law—crowds marched across Portland for several hours. The group was so big, people simultaneously filled both Morrison and Hawthorne Bridges, stretching and looping out to SE Grand. 

The event started at noon at the Battleship Oregon Memorial at Tom McCall Waterfront Park and ran until about 4 pm. When the end of the march crossed the Morrison, a comparatively smaller group started anew, rallying together to walk two miles to the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in South Portland. 

Portland’s rally, hosted by the local chapter of the 50501 movement, was one of more than 2,000 No Kings protests held across the country on Saturday. The event coincided with a military parade in Washington, DC, for President Trump’s birthday and the 250th anniversary of the US Army. National organizers say in total, more than five million people across the US showed up for the No Kings rallies. 

The event in Portland began with a slate of speakers, including several local elected officials. Many of the speakers used their time to condemn the ongoing, Trump-directed ICE raids and deportations of immigrants and asylum seekers in Portland and across the country. Locally, ICE agents have recently detained at least a handful of asylum seekers in Portland, and arrested others in nearby cities, including a man in Newberg late last week. 

“In Portland, we show up for each other, and we stand together for our neighbors when they are under threat. We stand together when we see federal actions right here in our city that are targeting our immigrant neighbors,” City Council President Elana Pirtle-Guiney said at the rally. “I believe in the strength and resilience of Portlanders. I believe we have the patience, we have the fortitude for nonviolent resistance. We are not a city that buckles under pressure.” 

Councilor Angelita Morillo said, as the only immigrant on City Council, the Trump administration’s actions are hitting close to home. 

“It means so much to me to see you all out here. I'll admit that in the past few days, I felt a lot of despair over what I'm seeing happening,” Morillo said. “Whenever I see all of you out here like this, it makes me feel like I have the courage to be brave, too.” 

Morillo spoke about moving to the US from Paraguay as a young child to escape authoritarianism in her home country. 

“I will be damned if I allow [the United States] to go down that path after everything that my mother sacrificed to bring us here,” Morillo said. “This is an incompetent administration, and we have a group of people here that is prepared and ready to organize on behalf of our neighbors, and we are never going to back down.” 

As was the case at other recent anti-Trump protests, the tens of thousands of attendees appeared to have a range of motivations for taking to the streets. Many people held signs critical of ICE, which has escalated deportations in recent weeks across the US.

Many of the signs carried by demonstrators expressed some version of “ICE is the new Gestapo,” or otherwise showed support for immigrants in the US. Other protesters seemed focused on government overreach under the Trump administration, doubling down on the “no kings” message. As people marched through downtown, over the Hawthorne Bridge to Portland’s Central Eastside, and back downtown across the Morrison Bridge, the protest chants ranged from the classic (“Show me what democracy looks like! This is what democracy looks like!”) to the targeted (“Fuck your birthday,” “There’s no justice if there’s just ICE.”) 

Before the march began, an organizer reminded the crowd to keep things calm. 

“This is a peaceful protest, okay? No broken windows, no fires, no fights, nothing like that,” the organizer said. “Safe, family friendly, but loud as fuck in reminding the fascist that this is not welcome here.” 

Protesters obeyed, and the march was lauded for turning up huge crowds and remaining peaceful. 

“We celebrate all those who peacefully and powerfully raised their voices against Federal overreach, which are deeply held values in both Portland and our nation,” Portland Mayor Keith Wilson wrote in a Sunday press release. 

ICE protest

As the last of the march crossed the Morrison, a much smaller group started anew, rallying together to walk two miles to the ICE facility in South Portland where an ongoing protest had been encamped for nearly a week.

Drawn together by a couple announcements over the sound system, those proposing the second trek stressed they were unaffiliated with the No Kings event organizers. “It’s about a 45 minute walk… maybe don’t bring kids, please bring [personal protective equipment].”

Comparatively, the estimated 300 demonstrators were one hundredth of the day’s massive draw, but when they arrived at the South Portland facility they nearly doubled the crowd’s size. They also found a situation far different from the peaceful afternoon rally they’d left.

An overwhelming majority who marched to ICE arrived wearing KN95 masks or similar. They waved signs and chanted “Fuck ICE!” as cars honked their horns in approval. However, the medical masks provided little to no protection from tear gas, deployed by federal officers almost immediately as the assembly swelled.

A large group arrived upon a scene of activists flushing one another’s eyes, coughing into gutters. Into the evening. Those who knew what to expect had changed into gas masks and black sweats en route. 

Piles of broken umbrellas, empty water containers, electric scooters, and what appeared to be torn banners and clothing lined the driveway of the ICE Facility. Graffiti covered its walls and windows, the most popular writing being “Fuck ICE” in a variety of sizes and colors. At least one banner stuck to a window read “Free OJM”—the pseudonym of an asylum seeker ICE officers arrested on June 2.

Within 40 minutes, officers threw more gas canisters and flashbang distraction grenades from the roof or quickly out the facility door, scattering those chanting in the driveway. They fired pepper balls through the driveway gate.

Groups of activists assembled shields made of umbrellas and wooden boards or other improvised materials. They hurled smoking canisters back and tossed half-empty water bottles toward the officers. Some used leaf blowers to redirect tear gas away from the crowd of protesters.

A man shouting at agents on a megaphone was hit by a less lethal munition and fled, blood streaming from his eye. Later, Vincent Hawkins would tell the Mercury that besides the terror he felt at the possibility of losing an eye, he was upset the officers hadn’t let him finish what he was trying to say.

As activist medics applied gauze and called an ambulance, Hawkins—blood streaming down his arm—declared: “I have to have my say, and if it means being wounded to do it, then I’m here.”

Gobs of people in helmets, hoodies, and hardware store respirators mobbed the building’s front doors, holding them shut against agents who were tossing tear gas canisters through them. Abruptly one or more of the demonstrators began to shatter the doors’ glass-like material. Seemingly in response, agents spilled from the building and held a perimeter, continuing to toss gas canisters and shoot pellets. 

At several points throughout the evening, Portland Police Bureau officers showed up on the periphery of the scene, monitoring the situation. While the gathering was declared a “riot” by PPB announcements on multiple occasions, local police didn’t get involved until later in the night. Several protesters went up to members of the PPB bike squad to ask them about their relationship to the federal police, or encourage them to protect Portlanders from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents and their pepper ball guns and tear gas. 

“We have nothing to do with them,” was the standard PPB response. One officer told the Mercury PPB’s standard for deploying crowd-control measures like tear gas is much higher than the federal officers’. PPB has been sued several times over the past decade for excessive use of force and overuse of tear gas and other crowd-control tactics, resulting in millions of dollars in legal settlements. Police Bureau policy now urges restraint when using tear gas, especially in situations when bystanders and “non-target persons” would be exposed.

Still, it’s clear PPB’s presence at the ICE demonstrations has been confusing and upsetting to some protesters. The police bureau itself recognized this, stating in a press release that “officers on bikes conducted visibility patrols in an attempt to deter crime but also recognized that at times their presence escalated the crowd.” 

“During those times, the decision was made to disengage but officers remained in the area to respond to any additional criminal activity,” the PPB press release states. 

The press release also says three people were arrested by local law enforcement between roughly 8 pm and 1 am. The first person was arrested under suspicion of attempting to assault a federal officer. Another person was arrested around 11 pm after throwing a rock at the ICE building, and a third person was arrested at 1 am for stealing traffic cones near the ICE facility and driving under the influence. 

Other protesters appear to have been detained by federal agents. Shortly after 8 pm, the Mercury witnessed one person from the crowd being restrained and taken into the ICE building by federal officers, but it was unclear what occurred to prompt the arrest. 

According to PPB and the mayor’s office, three federal officers were injured throughout the evening, but none required medical treatment. However, DHS claimed in a social media post that four officers were injured. The post contains a message from DHS Secretary Kristi Noem in response to the Portland protest. 

“Secretary Noem’s message to the rioters is clear: you will not stop us or slow us down,” the DHS statement says. “ICE and our federal law enforcement partners will continue to enforce the law. If you lay a hand on a law enforcement officer, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.” 

For his part, Mayor Wilson said in a press release that Portland will fight back if the federal government attempts to send National Guard troops to the city in response to Saturday’s events at the ICE facility. 

“Deploying military troops to the heart of an American city, as the administration has in Los Angeles, is an unwarranted, unprecedented, and unconstitutional action,” Wilson said. “If we witness federal abuse following this incident or any other pretext, we will bring it to light, take legal action, and take the fight to federal courts, where we will prevail."

Terri Wallo Strauss, PPB’s public information officer, said in an email that the arrests made by federal agents “did not involve the Portland Police Bureau and therefore, we are unable to provide any information.” The Mercury reached out to FBI Portland for more information, and will update when it is available.

People protesting ICE told the Mercury they’re outraged by the treatment of immigrants by federal law enforcement, and feel the need to fight back. 

Patrick Ogawa said part of his distaste for ICE is personal, as he has close family who were placed in Japanese internment camps during World War II. 

“This shit is just repeating, and it’s the same shit,” Ogawa said. He said he wanted to see all the detained migrants freed, as well as “ICE abolished completely and totally, and an end to fascism in this country.” 

“[ICE is] illegally imprisoning people's mothers and fathers, children, brothers, sisters,” Ogawa said. “No human is illegal on stolen land that was built by slaves.” 

Another protester told the Mercury “we need to get ICE out of Portland.” 

“We need to put pressure on them to know that they're not welcome here, and that the the whole city is going to rise up against them as much as we can,” they said.