PORTLAND, Ore. (CN) - Protesters and freelance journalists who have been struck with pepper balls, engulfed in clouds of tear gas, and stunned by flash bangs appeared in federal court on Monday to ask for an extension of an order restricting federal officers from deploying such munitions at crowds outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland, Oregon.

"We are here to ask the court to protect protesters and journalists at the Portland ICE building from defendants' ongoing pattern of retaliation," said Kelly Simon, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon.

The plaintiffs claim the goal of the federal government is to "use pain and fear to chill the First Amendment activity" of those on the frontlines of the ongoing protest at the ICE facility.

U.S. District Judge Michael Simon, a Joe Biden appointee, issued a temporary restraining order in early February blocking the Trump administration's federal immigration officers from deploying chemical or projectiles. Now, over the course of a three-day evidentiary hearing, he's tasked with considering whether to grant the class of plaintiffs' request to extend that order while the case proceeds.

The class is also asking that Simon add a condition requiring agents to wear visible identification numbers with their agency affiliation displayed.

The federal defendants - President Donald Trump, the Department of Homeland Security and its Secretary Kristi Noem - argue that the federal agents are both authorized to deploy the munitions and are doing so only to control unruly crowds rather than targeted attacks based on protected speech.

"Exposure is not the same thing as targeting and is not proof of retaliation," argued Justice Department attorney Brad Rosenberg.

Laurie Eckman, one of the plaintiffs in the case, told the court she was holding a sign that said "Will swap 10,000 immigrants for one little king Donald" in a gathering in front of the ICE facility when she was struck in the side of her head with a pepper ball on Oct. 4, 2025. Federal officers surged out from the gate of the building and toward the largely peaceful crowd, she said.

"It was hard to understand why they were charging like that and using the tear gas except to intimidate the people who were there," Laurie Eckman said.

Laurie's husband Richard, a Vietnam War veteran and fellow plaintiff in the case, told the court that a federal agent lobbed a gas canister underneath his walker that day.

"When they came out the gate, one looked at me, and I pointed to my Vietnam hat, and I thought that would make him at least find another target, and obviously he didn't," Richard Eckman said.

The couple joined their church in a silent march to the ICE facility on Jan. 31 and kept their distance from the front of the facility, only to again be enshrouded in tear gas. The two said agents appeared to overshoot the crowd, which they described as docile and full of families and people of all ages, in a way that forced people to maneuver through tear gas to leave the area.

"We shouldn't be afraid of going somewhere and having a government agency terrorize us," Richard Eckman said. "The freedom of assembly is an important addition to the Constitution in Amendment One. I don't want to see that quelled by fear or terror."

Plaintiff Hugo Rios, a freelance videographer, testified that he was wearing a press vest and filming the ICE facility from the public sidewalk across the street on Sept. 1, 2025, when agents pushed him and shot him with pepper balls.

"It was pretty jolting for them to physically attack me at that time, especially as a journalist, you do not want to interfere," Rios said.

Rios presented a video from the night showing federal agents throwing a gas canister at his feet and said the agents then started firing at him.

"I was shot a lot of times, over 20 times; they were only firing at me at that moment," Rios said. "I had to pretty much use my $10,000 camera to protect myself."

Local law enforcement officers also took the stand to highlight the sharp contrast between their own crowd control policies and those employed by federal agents.

For instance, the Portland Police Bureau has had strict procedures regarding when officers can use tear gas on crowds. Federal officers operate with their own policies.

"There is a significant impact to the community," Franz Schoening, commander of the specialized resource division of the Portland Police Bureau, said about the deployment of tear gas on a crowd.

The inconsistent response between local and federal agents is damaging local law enforcement's relationship with the community, testified Craig Dobson, commander with the Portland Police Bureau.

However, the federal defendants have been insistent that the munitions are a necessary tool for federal officers to control crowds, particularly when it comes to clearing the ICE facility driveway, which has become a focal point of the protests.

As Oregon is a so-called "sanctuary" state, law enforcement officers in the state are generally prohibited from helping federal agents in immigration-related operations. Practically, that has meant local police won't help vehicles enter or exit the ICE facility if protesters are blocking the driveway.

The federal defendants argue that their agents must continue to use less-lethal munitions to protect both the facility and the agents themselves. They also argued that the requested injunction is unworkable and dangerous.

The hearing is expected to conclude on Wednesday.

Source: Courthouse News Service