Subject: Re: The War in Portland on Video
I thought people might like to see this perspective from The Oregonian newspaper.

NWVillager
(Digital subscriber to the Oregonian)


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October 12, 2025
Letter from the Editor
The Oregonian
Laura Gunderson
Editor and Vice President of Content

Dear reader,

Anyone paying an ounce of attention to President Donald Trump and his administration’s reactions to protests in Portland knows how confusing it has become.

Yet even people who know Trump is wrong when he calls the city a “war zone” that’s “burning to the ground” still have questions and — remembering 2020 — worry about protesters’ motivations.

Even people living a few blocks away from the ICE facility who support the idea of protests say it’s not exactly “nothing” that’s playing out nightly in their neighborhood.

And that’s true. Protests in South Portland are relatively calm and lack the persistent violence and vandalism we saw in 2020, yet they’re disruptive for local residents and businesses. Federal officers have used tear gas and pepper balls with seemingly no warning, but also when protesters don’t move quickly enough out of the facility’s driveway and entrance.

Here are some answers to readers’ questions and concerns based on our journalists’ interviews, photos and videos, and observations from protests at the ICE facility.

Reader: Although I am for peaceful protests whether by the right or left, I am against violent protests. A city can't solve a problem like out-of-control violence by Antifa, which has been going on for at least 6 years, until it admits it has a problem.

Oregonian: Our journalists who covered the 2020 protests regularly saw people wearing masks in all black. Some may have professed allegiance to a particular ideology" , such as Antifa, but they were a loose and often lawless bunch. Dozens of masked agitators regularly splintered off from protests and marches to set fires, break windows and vandalize buildings.

This year, our journalists have not seen such bad actors in the same volume or committing the same acts, by any stretch of the imagination. Since the first asylum-seeker was arrested in Portland in June, only one protest – on June 14 – was declared a riot after several people used a stop sign as a battering ram to shatter the ICE building’s glass front door. Portland police arrested three people.

There has been flag burning, but no other fires have been reported. And while they are more regularly wearing gas masks now, only a small group of people at the ICE building regularly try to hide their identity – even the guy in the frog costume comes without it at times. This year’s protesters are not overtly hostile to journalists and many provide their names when asked.

Reader: This chaos was not happening until President Trump announced that he was sending troops to Portland. Since then, the media has been hovering in their helicopters and on land. Could this constant presence of the media be part of the increase in violence and conflict?

Oregonian: It’s the government, not media outlets, flying helicopters over the ICE building. Federal flight tracking information showed at least a Sikorsky UH-60A Black Hawk helicopter, belonging to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and a light-utility Airbus Helicopter H125, belonging to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, have flown in and out of nearby Hillsboro Airport during the recent protests. People complained so much about the helicopters, the Port of Portland put an announcement on its noise complaint hotline describing what they are. And the City of Portland issued a funny social media alert,“What the heli?”: “This appears to be related to federal law enforcement and is not related to City activities or something we can control.”

Reader: I’ve been somewhat frustrated by coverage of the ICE protests by major media. Phrases like “clashes between protesters and federal agents” implies there is violence coming from both sides equally. Also, coverage often isn’t clear when talking about tear gas and pepper spray, that it is all coming from the feds.


Oregonian: On the first part, that can be hard to say. When journalists cover protests, they’re trying to do a lot at once: Interview people, take pictures, send notes to their editors and scan the ICE building for when federal officers come out – a time more likely for altercations. They can’t always see how a “clash” begins.


Sometimes, it’s because protesters don’t move quickly enough off the ICE driveway or the blue line demarking ICE property from the sidewalk. Or it’s because protesters scream or spit at officers. But our journalists also have witnessed federal officers hit, shove and spray tear gas and pepper balls on people who weren’t interfering with ICE traffic. Officers also have knocked people down and moved to arrest them – actions that sometimes cause people on the ground to push back or kick. Officers also may just start spraying tear gas or shoot pepper balls to get people to move back.


The second question is easier: Our journalists have only witnessed federal officers using tear gas or pepper balls.

Lastly, protesters have mostly been a non-violent group, though there have been altercations among them and especially since Trump’s attempts to send National Guard troops has encouraged more of his supporters to the scene. There have been yelling matches and a few fights, and one person stole a Trump supporter’s tripod. He tried to escape by swimming across the Willamette River but was later arrested.


Reader: With the increasing threats of violence against judges, why on earth would you publish the face of a judge who ruled on such a politically charged issue as the National Guard occupying our streets? That is unbelievably irresponsible.



Oregonian: As a news organization, our job is to share information. We consider each case individually when it’s possible our stories or pictures could cause harm. However, Judge Karin J. Immergut is a public figure. Since she was a part of an unfolding national news story, her picture also was distributed nationwide by The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, among others. Also, long before her controversial ruling last week, an internet search of her name called up pictures from a variety of websites and news stories, including our own 2018 write-up when Trump appointed her to the federal court.


Value these answers?


Because of the high interest and gravity of the situation, our team has created the newsletter, "ICE Protests in Portland," which will be available for the duration of this significant news event. At 3 p.m. every day, the newsletter will deliver straight to your email inbox all the latest links to coverage from The Oregonian/OregonLive newsroom, whose reporters and photographers are continuously monitoring developments...
 
Thanks for reading!
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