Security guard injured during Portland City Hall scuffle as ICE protesters make voices heard
PORTLAND, Ore. June 29 2018 – A largely peaceful protest at Portland City Hall ended with a scuffle on Wednesday, prompting a security guard to be taken in for medical treatment.
The demonstrators were sitting in on the Council meeting to urge commissioners to take action on getting Immigration, Customs and Enforcement (ICE) out of Portland.
Dozens of protesters started camping outside of the ICE facility in Southwest Portland on Sunday, June 17, demonstrating against children being separated from their families at the U.S. and Mexican border. The facility has been closed since last Wednesday.
Protesters said shutting down ICE is one of their goals, so they consider the closure a win. They’re calling for ICE to be abolished.
City Commissioner Chloe Eudaly is leading the charge to permanently shut down the Portland federal immigration offices and cut the city’s connections with the Joint Terrorism Task Force.
She visited the occupied site in front of the ICE building on Monday, and says her office is looking into whether the city permit to use the building as a detention facility can be withdrawn. She told the crowd that while she can’t promise them anything, she would pursue it wholeheartedly.
“I hope we’ve demonstrated today that we do have a sincere and earnest desire to hear from the community and act on these issues,” said Eudaly during Wednesday’s Council meeting.
Commissioner Amanda Fritz also expressed support, but asked those in the crowd to be patient.
“Much is dependent on what Mayor (Ted) Wheeler chooses to do. And we will have a new commissioner in January. So the key to this to me is endless pressure endlessly applied,” she said.
Commissioners Nick Fish and Dan Saltzman didn’t say a word during this portion of the meeting, which did not sit well with some of the protesters. One got into a fight with security guards before leaving the building. He left a bloody mess in the elevator.
One security guard received minor injuries from the scuffle with the protester. The protester was last seen running scratched up and shirtless through the park across from City Hall.
Federal officers handed out “notices to vacate” to the demonstrators at the city’s ICE facility on Monday and again on Tuesday, telling them to clear the entrances to the building.
On Monday, a federal official told KATU News there were no plans to clear the camp, but protesters have been warned they need to “stop interrupting government business.” When asked what the feds will do if the campers remain, the official said, “we’ll cross that bridge when it comes to us.”
KATU
