February 3, 2026 / 8:30 PM EST / CBS/AP
A federal judge in Oregon on Tuesday temporarily barred federal officers from using tear gas and other chemical or projectile munitions at protests outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland, days after agents deployed gas at demonstrators, including young children, in what local officials called a peaceful event.
U.S. District Judge Michael Simon’s 14-day temporary restraining order prohibits federal officers from using chemical or projectile munitions unless the targeted person poses an imminent threat of physical harm. The order also restricts firing munitions at the head, neck or torso unless an officer is legally justified in using deadly force.
Simon wrote the nation “is now at a crossroads” and emphasized the role of an impartial judiciary in protecting constitutional rights. “In a well-functioning constitutional democratic republic, free speech, courageous newsgathering, and nonviolent protest are all permitted, respected, and even celebrated,” he said.
The order covers “kinetic impact projectiles, pepper ball or paintball guns, pepper or oleoresin capsicum spray, tear gas or other chemical irritants, soft nose rounds, 40mm or 37mm launchers, less lethal shotguns, and flashbang, Stinger, or rubber ball grenades.”
The ruling followed a lawsuit by the ACLU of Oregon on behalf of protesters and freelance journalists who cover demonstrations at the contested ICE facility. The complaint names the Department of Homeland Security, its head Kristi Noem, and President Trump as defendants, alleging that federal officers’ use of chemical munitions and excessive force amounts to retaliation that chills First Amendment rights.
DHS said its officers have “followed their training and used the minimum amount of force necessary to protect themselves, the public, and federal property.” Spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin added, “The First Amendment protects speech and peaceful assembly — not rioting. DHS is taking appropriate and constitutional measures to uphold the rule of law and protect our officers and the public from dangerous rioters.”
Portland Mayor Keith Wilson welcomed the ruling, saying it “confirms what we’ve said from the beginning. Federal agents have used unconscionable levels of force against a community exercising their constitutional right to free expression.”
Judges in other jurisdictions have also weighed restrictions on federal agents’ use of chemical munitions amid a surge in demonstrations against immigration enforcement nationwide. Last month, a federal appeals court suspended a ruling that barred federal officers in Minnesota from using tear gas or pepper spray against peaceful protesters who were not obstructing law enforcement. In November, an appeals court stayed a Chicago judge’s injunction that had limited federal use of certain riot-control weapons unless necessary to prevent an immediate threat; a related state lawsuit remains pending.
The Oregon complaint recounts incidents involving protesters and journalists who say they were targeted with chemical or less-lethal munitions. It names plaintiffs including a protester known for wearing a chicken costume, an elderly married couple in their 80s, and two freelance journalists.
In October, 83-year-old Vietnam veteran Richard Eckman and his 84-year-old wife, Laurie Eckman, joined a peaceful march to the ICE building. The complaint says federal officers launched chemical munitions at the crowd, striking Laurie Eckman in the head with a pepper ball and causing bleeding; she sought hospital treatment and was given instructions for a concussion. A munition also allegedly struck her husband’s walker.
Protester Jack Dickinson, who frequently attends events in a chicken suit, says officers aimed munitions at him while he posed no threat; the complaint alleges shots at his face respirator, his back, and a tear-gas canister that burned a hole in his costume.
Freelance journalists Hugo Rios and Mason Lake say they were hit with pepper balls and tear-gassed while clearly marked as press.
The complaint asks the court to stop federal officers from “gassing, shooting, hitting and arresting peaceful Portlanders and journalists willing to document federal abuses as if they are enemy combatants,” saying the actions have caused irreparable harm, physical injury, fear of arrest, and a chilling effect on speech, press and assembly.
Local officials have repeatedly criticized federal tactics. Mayor Wilson demanded ICE leave the city after agents used chemical munitions at what he described as a peaceful daytime protest where “the vast majority of those present violated no laws, made no threat, and posed no danger to federal forces.”
The Portland demonstrations are part of a wider wave of protests against the immigration enforcement surge in cities including Minneapolis, where federal agents have been implicated in incidents that left two people, Alex Pretti and Renee Good, dead in recent weeks.
