A federal judge on Thursday barred federal agents in Portland from dispersing, arresting, threatening to arrest, or using force against journalists or legal observers. U. S. District Judge Michael H.…
A federal judge on Thursday barred federal agents in Portland from dispersing, arresting, threatening to arrest, or using force against journalists or legal observers.
U. S. District Judge Michael H. Simon issued the 14-day temporary order following a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon, which cited statements from journalists and legal observers who said they had been targeted by authorities.
Federal agents said they had been protecting government property from protesters and that journalists were incidentally caught up in their efforts to stop the violence, but Simon said indications suggested otherwise.
“Plaintiffs’ declarations describe situations including that they were identifiable as press, were not engaging in unlawful activity or protesting, were not standing near protesters, and yet were subject to violence by federal agents,” Simon wrote. “Contrary to the Federal Defendants’ arguments, this evidence does not support that the force used on Plaintiffs were ‘unintended consequences’ of crowd control.
