A growing crowd of protesters, counter-protesters, live streamers, onlookers and journalists coalesced around the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement complex in South Portland on Saturday, hours after a massive “No Kings” rally downtown drew at least 40,000 peaceful protesters to the city core.
Around 4:30 p.m., the party atmosphere that sometimes spreads over the area had turned tense as federal agents deployed tear gas against the crowd. Several hundred people clogged the sidewalks.
Federal agents used tear gas against the crowd again just after 7:30 p.m.
Here is how events unfolded outside the building that is the focus of an ongoing legal battle over President Donald Trump’s efforts to send National Guard troops to the city.
2 p.m.
Federal agents detained a protester who has frequently attended demonstrations. He was dragged on the ground and then transferred to a rolling cart and taken inside the building. It was not clear why he was detained.
3 p.m.
Cheers of “quit your job” and “shame, shame, shame” erupted outside the ICE complex.
The group of a few hundred people was expected to increase as some marchers with the peaceful “No Kings” rallies that converged Saturday afternoon in downtown Portland made their way south to the building.
Federal agents released the man who was detained around 2 p.m., but he didn’t have the white cane he uses as a mobility aid with him. Agents escorted him to a friend, and the two hugged for several moments before an agent returned his cane to him.
Meanwhile, protesters were playing music and starting to dance. About a dozen wore inflatable costumes. They included a shark, a dragon and a red Among Us character.
3:45 p.m.
Federal agents detained another person and fired multiple rounds of pepper balls as agents on the ground streamed out of the building in order to block the road and let several cars into the complex.
The agents had begun retreating back to the gate, when they advanced toward the crowd again. A person was standing about a foot away from from the blue line marking the boundary protesters are not allowed to cross, holding a sign and not appearing to be doing anything else. An agent reached out, grabbed the person and dragged the person behind the line of other agents.
4:30 p.m.
Federal officers emerged from the facility and shot multiple rounds of tear gas into the crowd, driving dozens of protesters out of the area. Individuals donned gas masks and moved out of the area, with many applying saline solution to their eyes.
5 p.m.
Traffic remained open on South Bancroft Street allowing drivers to slowly stream by the ICE facility and honk. Protesters spilled into the street, running back and forth across Bancroft at times in front of the cars. Bicycle officers attempted, not terribly successfully, to keep protesters on the sidewalks.
5:30 p.m.
The Portland police announced that if people stayed in the street, the could be arrested or cited. “Failure to comply,” the message continued “may subject you to crowd control measures, including impact munitions or other physical force.”
Not long after that announcement, police tweeted that they had just detained a person for an alleged assault and would investigate.
6:15 p.m.
Around 400 to 500 protesters remained high energy as a light rain fell on the crowd. A DJ played music and a few costumed folks held a vigil at the blue line marking the facility’s entrance.
Portland police tweeted that one of the people who had been arrested was being booked into jail while two others were being detained pending an investigation.
6:30 p.m.
As the rain continued, federal officers pitched two tents on the ICE facility’s roof where many of them had been stationed throughout the evening. Protesters could be overheard making fun of the officers for not being able to handle Portland’s rain.
7 p.m.
Jeff Olsen, 73, marched in the No Kings rally earlier Saturday with his wife, Liz. The South Waterfront residents were taking in the scene at ICE at 7 p.m. — calling the scene quintessential Portland.
“The best thing we can do is keep showing this kind of large, peaceful, anti-Trump protest,” he said.
7:30 p.m.
A group of roughly 400 demonstrators remained locked in a stand-off with the small gathering of camo-clad agents, who stood impassively on a rooftop just a few dozen feet above the restive crowd.
Members of the protest group jeered and shouted taunts. They were awaiting the near inevitable: a clash with agents attempting to clear the only driveway leading into the ICE complex.
“ICE out of Portland,” they chanted.
Federal agents then deployed gas on the crowd again. It wasn’t clear why.
Sparks from tear gas canisters set several small fires, but light rain and a lack of fuel extinguished the flames.
8:30 p.m.
Portland police announced they booked three people into jail on allegations that included fourth-degree assault, second-degree bias crime and harassment.
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