Floyd Sawyer surveyed the block near the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in South Portland and seemed satisfied that he’d seen enough to come to his own conclusions about the protests that have been making national headlines.
“This is a peaceful protest as far as I’m concerned,” said Sawyer, a farmer who drove for several hours from Shelton, Washington.
“Right now it is,” said Paul Bruns, a counter-protester carrying a pole with a large American flag, who was also at the protest for the first time Wednesday.
As Portland and the nation await a decision from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on whether President Donald Trump may send troops to Portland, the different sides in the ongoing drama outside the ICE facility have settled into their respective roles.
Some of the long-time protesters continue to harangue federal officials, yelling insults and standing in their way. Portland police monitor from a wary distance and occasionally wade in to make an arrest or two or three. Right-wing personalities and left-wing protesters heckle each other. Federal police walk out of the facility by the dozens, standing stone-faced as vehicles come and go from the building.
In this wait-and-see moment, the tone and tenor of protests have changed markedly compared with June, when demonstrations began heating up.
The national attention has brought in brand new protesters, lookie-loos and agitators. Meanwhile, the federal agents appeared this week to have scaled back their tactics, engaging with protesters in a less aggressive way Wednesday and Thursday.
Here’s what the scene looks like now, and how things have changed in recent days.
New protesters and onlookers have arrived
As night fell Wednesday, Sawyer, the Washington farmer, entered a debate with Kylie Cleveland, 30, who has been attending the protests since June and is noticeable for the Disney character costume Stitch that she has worn for months.
Newcomers and old-timers alike stood around looking for something to do with their time, at times making for unusual conversation partners.
Cleveland was trying to persuade Sawyer, 62, that opportunities for young people are far fewer than the opportunities that existed for older generations.
“You can do anything you set your mind to,” Sawyer said, his hands in his jean pockets.
“Not really,” Cleveland replied. “90% of the wealth is owned by 10% of the people.”
A man crossing the street who appeared to be intoxicated took off his shoes and started dancing in the street in front of a car that had stopped at a stop sign. Several Portland bike police officers immediately swooped in.
“OK, if you’re blocking cars, you’re going to get arrested,” one of them said as he approached the man.
The man reluctantly listened to instructions, put his shoes back on and left, allowing the car to pass.
Around 4 p.m. Thursday, travel nurse Aleah Sadeghi stood near the ICE facility. Sadeghi first came to the protests on Oct. 4 after learning on the news that Trump planned to deploy troops to Portland.
That day, Sadeghi, 27, said she saw federal officers tear gas people for no apparent reason, including a man who appeared to be in his 80s who fell trying to get away from the gas.
“It was completely unreasonable,” Sadeghi said of the federal officers’ actions.
Sitting in a camping chair near Sadeghi was a woman who said she was a Gulf War Air Force veteran. She said she swore an oath to defend the U.S. Constitution, and she was doing that by protesting.
Kelly Clark, 55, came out after Trump announced he would be sending troops to Portland and, like Sadeghi, was at the Oct. 4 protest when officers deployed tear gas. Like Sadeghi, said she was shocked by what she described as “excessive” force.
“It was awful,” Clark said. “It was unbelievable.”
Federal tactics have calmed down
Interactions between federal agents and protesters have appeared to be calmer and less antagonistic in recent days since Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem visited the facility Tuesday. People dressed in inflatable animal suits have multiplied. And Portland police have been visible and active.
Sky Yonally, who has been protesting outside the ICE facility most days since July 4, said she observed a change in tone this week, believing the federal agents were less inclined to antagonize protesters. She noted that one federal agent was “uncharacteristically gentle” when pushing her and a blind man back.
On Wednesday and Thursday, federal agents gave a clear and loud warning before every time they opened the gates and walked out. There were always some among the officers who came out without masks of any kind, showing their faces. And none came out with shields.
Yonally also said she couldn’t recall a time when the facility would give so many warnings before officers marched out to move people aside and that it was unusual for so many officers to come out without any face covering.
Portland police have been visibly active, investigating allegations of assault and altercations between protesters and counter-protesters. On Wednesday, more than a dozen Portland Police Bureau officers on bikes were spread out in the area outside the facility. Thursday, about as many of them regularly rode through the protest area.
Portland police arrested five people on Wednesday — the most arrests in one day since June 12, when police arrested 10 people. City officers arrested two more people Thursday.
Long-term protesters say they’re maintaining non-violent approach
Jack Dickinson is among the most visible protesters, wearing a bright yellow chicken suit that has made national news.
He has been protesting for months, he said, and for most of that time he was joined only by a few dozen people.
In June, protesters threw objects at the facility and broke a window with a stop sign. Portland police declared a riot outside the facility June 14.
Dickinson’s core group of long-term protesters won’t instigate physical clashes with federal agents, he said.
“We have to be willing to change our tactics,” Dickinson said, “recognizing that Portland is going to be an optics battleground.”
Not everyone has gotten the memo. The U.S. Attorney’s office has charged at least 31 people with crimes connected to the ICE protests since June 13. Most recently, federal agents arrested a man for allegedly spitting at a federal officer Oct. 5.
Far-right personalities have become a fixture
Jeremy Wayne Roberts was standing on a gravel patch across from the ICE facility Thursday afternoon. Roberts said he had no problem with people protesting with signs, but he did object to protesters allegedly instigating confrontations with police.
Roberts, 44, pleaded guilty to harassing a journalist and damaging a glass door at the Oregon State Capitol in 2020. He also said that he “fought antifa” throughout the protests in 2020 and, based on that experience, agreed with Trump’s declaration that the loosely defined ideology is organized and is a terrorist group.
But Roberts said he believed that the protests outside the ICE facility were calmer than the 2020 protests, particularly because of the abundance of people recently who weren’t wearing all black or hiding their identities.
As the evening wore on Thursday, three people in frog costumes showed up. A nearby resident stopped on his bicycle to look at the scene, saying that as long as the streets were open, he had no problem with the protesters.
“I love you, ICE,” a right-wing streamer’s voice echoed down the street. “I can’t come any closer.”
It was Thomas Allen, a prominent streamer who was charged recently in an alleged assault at the facility and, as part of his release conditions, was barred from coming within 200 feet of the facility.
Allen was arrested later Thursday night on a warrant for contempt of court.
Some people seem to be having fun
That same night, someone hauled more than a dozen inflatable animal suits to the gravel patch across from ICE and offered them to protesters. Soon, at least 15 people were wearing suits that included a shark, a unicorn, frogs and an axolotl, making for a comedic contrast when federal officers came out.
“Portland is Portlanding,” Cleveland said to a fellow protester, looking at the people in animal costumes.
One of the people who agreed to put on a costume said he came to the protests about once a week and donned a shark costume to counter the rhetoric coming from the Trump administration that Portland is “war-torn.”
Even as half a dozen federal agents stood on a roof overlooking the protest scene, some of them holding what appeared to be pepper ball guns, Nathan Martin, a 20-year-old college student, said he simply wanted to feel joy.
“It’s depressing being here,” Martin said. “I could use some whimsy right now.”
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