Robert Jacob Hoopes and his girlfriend looked out their bedroom window last Friday morning to find FBI agents surrounding their home. A minute later, the armed officers were pounding at their door, demanding they open up, reportedly without providing a warrant. Eventually, they learned the federal officers were there to arrest Hoopes, 24, for allegedly throwing a rock at an ICE officer and damaging the Portland ICE facility during a protest in June. 

Hoopes, who goes by his middle name, was identified using surveillance footage and facial recognition technology. He was arrested and charged more than a month after the alleged crimes. 

News of the arrest spread quickly online and galvanized a large group of supporters. Many of them rallied in front of the federal courthouse downtown ahead of Hoopes’ first court hearing on July 28, and about 30 supporters packed the courtroom. 

“Jacob is the soul of goodness. He is the kindest, sweetest, most loving person that I have personally known,” Jacob’s father, Tom Hoopes, told a crowd of about 50 supporters just before the hearing. “We Quakers like to say there is that of God in every person. Jacob is in trouble because he believes that too, and he was prepared to put himself in harm’s way in support of that belief.” 

Tom Hoopes said he flew to Portland from his home in Pennsylvania as soon as he heard about the arrest. His son, who graduated from Reed College in 2023, was raised in a family dedicated to Quakerism, a religion known for its strong commitment to peace. Many people who came out to support Hoopes were members of Portland’s Quaker community, and his religious practice came up frequently during the court hearing. Those who gathered in support of Hoopes emphasized his commitment to pacifism and peaceful protest. 

 

The FBI brought two charges against Hoopes, both based on activity they say he committed on June 14, during a large protest at Portland’s ICE facility following the No Kings Day protest downtown. Hoopes was charged with aggravated assault of a federal officer with a dangerous weapon for allegedly throwing a rock into the open door of the ICE facility, “striking an ICE [enforcement and removal officer] in the face from close range causing significant injury.” 

Hoopes was also charged with damaging federal property in excess of $1000, with prosecutors alleging he led a group of people to use an upended stop sign as a “makeshift battering ram,” using it to strike the door of the ICE facility. 

The charges are felonies. The assault charge is punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison, while a 10-year sentence is possible for the property damage charge. 

“This is from the person who would like you to believe he’s a Quaker pacifist,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Sussman said to the judge at the July 28 hearing. 

Hoopes, who was represented by defense attorney Matthew McHenry, pleaded not guilty to the charges at the Monday hearing. Federal prosecutors asked the judge to keep Hoopes detained ahead of his arraignment, currently scheduled for August 15, calling him a “danger to the community.” The judge, Youlee Yim You, said she didn’t believe pre-trial detention was necessary, and allowed Hoopes to be released with conditions. 

“We were screamed at, handcuffed, and put on the street in our underwear.”

Hoopes is not the only person who has been slapped with federal charges for alleged offenses committed at recent ICE protests in Portland. Over the last two months, more than 20 others have been arrested by federal officers after protesting at the ICE facility in Portland’s South Waterfront. But Hoopes’ case has struck a particular nerve, in part because of the way law enforcement went about his arrest. 

Most of the people facing federal charges for alleged crimes at the ICE facility were arrested on the scene. Hoopes’ case is different. He was arrested more than a month after the June 14 ICE protest, when the feds say he broke the law, and the arrest took place at his home after weeks of surveillance. 

According to the FBI’s complaint, federal agents identified Hoopes by comparing the ICE facility’s surveillance video from the June 14 protests to a photo from an Oregonian article, taken the same day. The Oregonian photo appears to depict Hoopes standing in a group of several other people, possibly helping render medical aid to another man who looks to be injured. The FBI says the man in the photo is the same person they caught on surveillance footage committing crimes, including throwing a rock into the ICE facility and striking an agent near his eye.

FBI Portland ran the Oregonian’s photo through a facial recognition software tool and found photos of a similar-looking man, including one from a Reed College photo-sharing platform, and a name identifying him. According to the criminal complaint against Hoopes, Reed College’s director of community safety provided the FBI with information about their suspect, including his address, reportedly without a warrant. (Reed’s president said she’s looking into the incident, and the college has seemingly put the community safety director on leave.) Federal law enforcement surveilled Hoopes’ home on at least one occasion, apparently enabling them to confirm his identity. 

While the city of Portland prohibits the use of facial recognition software by police, federal agencies aren’t subject to that restriction.

Hoopes and his girlfriend were at their home on the morning of July 25, when federal law enforcement officers arrested Hoopes at gunpoint. Hoopes’ girlfriend, Fable, wrote about the arrest in a statement on social media. Fable said when Hoopes asked the officers if they had a warrant, “they responded by aiming laser reactive targets on his body, threatening his life.” 

“I told Jacob to open the door because I feared we would die if we continued to ask for a warrant. Jacob opened the door with his hands up, empty-handed, and I and my roommate followed,” Fable wrote. “We were screamed at, handcuffed, and put on the street in our underwear.”

Fable said there were about 20 FBI agents on the scene in unmarked vehicles, and claimed that Portland cops were also present during the arrest. However, a Portland Police Bureau spokesman told the Mercury the bureau wasn’t involved in Hoopes’ arrest, and said PPB officers weren’t present at the scene. 

Fable’s statement was widely viewed on social media and prompted advocates to spread the word about Hoopes’ arrest, encouraging people to show up in front of the federal courthouse to support him ahead of his July 28 hearing. Many did, holding signs calling for Hoopes to be released. 

Some people said they see Hoopes’ arrest as an ominous example of the American government’s increasingly authoritarian actions. 

“This is a concerning warning sign of what could be coming from the Trump administration,” Portland City Councilor Candace Avalos said in a video posted to Instagram. “I’m worried we are going to continue to see threats to people’s rights to protest the injustices of this administration, under their First Amendment rights.”

The criminal complaint against Hoopes places his charges within the broader context of the ongoing protests occurring at Portland’s ICE field office. Demonstrations have taken place at the site nightly since early June, with protesters opposing the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement agenda. Since late May, several asylum seekers living in Portland have been arrested without cause after showing up to their mandated immigration appointments. The Trump administration has set extreme quotas for deportations, and ICE officers have responded with aggressive enforcement tactics. 

The FBI’s affidavit states that ICE officers and employees are in danger due to protest activity, citing examples of protesters “harassing both ICE clients and employees by following them with cameras and making threatening statements,” including that they know where the employees live and will find them. 

“After nightfall, protestors generally become more aggressive and oftentimes violent,” the affidavit states, accusing demonstrators of property damage, assault or attempted assault against federal officers, arson, discharging pepper spray at officers, and more. 

ICE officers aren’t the only ones who face harm. On multiple occasions, protesters have been injured by federal officers during demonstrations at Portland’s ICE facility. At the June 14 protest, when Hoopes’ alleged crimes took place, several people reported injuries, including an ER nurse who was shot in the eye by a “less lethal” projectile fired into the crowd by federal officers. The officers have used tear gas indiscriminately on large crowds, which has also wafted into nearby apartment buildings and impacted residents there. A video taken on a separate occasion later in June shows officers dragging a protester toward the building, reportedly after federal agents knocked them unconscious. 

Portland Police Bureau officers have also responded to the protests on numerous occasions, making arrests. Portland city leaders have held work sessions and hearings to discuss their ability to intervene in these situations. Some Portlanders want the City Council to revoke ICE’s building permit, but it’s unclear how much that would restrict federal agents from conducting immigration enforcement or impact their conduct toward protesters. 

At a Community & Public Safety Committee meeting earlier this summer, councilors and Portland Police Chief Bob Day weighed the possibility of local police stepping in to prevent violent conduct at protests by federal agents. That scenario is far-fetched and risky, but the discussion is indicative of the rift between local and federal law enforcement, the latter of which is increasingly unaccountable. 

By the time Hoopes’ Monday hearing began, the courtroom’s spectator seats were filled to capacity, and many people were asked to wait outside. The group inside the hearing room included some of Hoopes’ close family and friends, as well as many supporters who don’t know him, but found out about the arrest on social media or through the Quaker community. 

Sussman, the attorney representing the government, described the allegations presented in the complaint in detail, and played surveillance footage that he claimed depicts Hoopes committing multiple severe infractions, including carrying out a “very violent and vicious assault on a federal officer” with a large rock.

McHenry, Hoopes’ attorney, said his client is an active member of his community in Portland, and emphasized his lack of criminal history and religious background.

“These unproven allegations regarding a single event are far outweighed by [Hoopes’] history, [including] his Quaker upbringing,” McHenry said. He also said his client’s many friends and family members, some of whom were sitting behind them in the courtroom, would ensure he follows the requirements of his release. 

At that point, both the prosecuting attorney and the judge turned their attention to the group of spectators. Sussman said it was likely most of the people attending Hoopes’ hearing came after seeing Fable’s post on social media. He seemed to imply the post was part of a larger scheme, noting it contained lines calling out fascism and advocated to “abolish ICE.” 

Judge You asked members of the crowd who know Hoopes personally to raise their hands. Then, in a move McHenry said he’d never seen before in court, she called on them one by one to explain their relationship. Hoopes started to quietly cry as his family members and friends spoke. The outpouring of support also appeared to make an impact on You, who said she would allow Hoopes to go home later that day. 

“Hoopes clearly has strong ties to the community,” You said. “There’s strong evidence with respect to his history and character.”

But she also said the prosecution’s evidence against Hoopes “appears to be strong.” She told the defendant to follow the conditions of his release, which include location monitoring to ensure he stays away from the ICE facility. (Sussman claimed that without location tracking, anti-ICE fervor might propel Hoopes to return to the site.) Hoopes’ supporters seemed pleased with the outcome of the hearing, but what happens next is unclear. The first step in the process will come in August, when Hoopes is next set to appear in court. 

Due to his family’s strong religious ties, Hoopes’ arrest sent waves through the national Quaker network and received worldwide attention. After the hearing, Tom Hoopes said it will be “incredibly powerful for [Hoopes] to learn that what he has gone through has galvanized the Quaker community.” 

“People who like to narrow the definition of pacifism to mean ‘pushover’ are wrong, and waging a war on compassion. We’re not pushovers,” Tom Hoopes said. “We must speak truth to power, we must stand up.”