A video showing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents wheeling a Portland protester away on a flatbed cart has gone viral.
Protests have been escalating in the region over federal deployments in Oregon.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) posted the video on X on October 5, showing a person wearing a black hoodie lying face down on a metal platform cart.
Highlights
- A viral video shows ICE agents wheeling a Portland protester away on a flatbed cart with their hands restrained.
- Portland protests escalated after Trump deployed the Oregon National Guard despite state officials' objections.
- U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut blocked the Trump administration from sending National Guard troops to Oregon.
- California and Oregon officials joined a lawsuit challenging federal troop deployments as an abuse of law and power.
A viral video shows ICE wheeling a protester away on a metal platform cart
Image credits: Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Their hands are restrained behind their back as agents roll the cart away.
The clip plays to Chamillionaire’s 2006 song ‘Ridin,’ and ICE captioned it, “Refuse to walk? We’ll give you a ride.”
Within hours, the video had received tens of thousands of likes and over 3 million impressions.
In Portland, which has held a national reputation as a protest flashpoint, anti-ICE protests have been growing since June. More people have joined them since late September, when the Trump administration mobilized the Oregon National Guard despite objections from state officials.
On Saturday, about 400 protesters gathered outside the ICE facility, and federal agents shot tear gas into the crowd to disperse them.
Portland Mayor Keith Wilson condemned ICE's actions Sunday, calling them an unjustified use of force that included indiscriminately spraying pepper spray.
“This is an aggressive approach trying to inflame the situation that has otherwise been peaceful,” he said.
The protests are part of a broader wave of anti-ICE demonstrations taking place across the country.
In Broadview, Illinois, on Friday, about 250 protesters gathered outside a federal immigration processing center and were dispersed by federal agents using tear gas, pepper balls, and rubber bullets.
In Norridge and Bensenville, Illinois, ICE officers were reportedly targeted by people using vehicles as weapons.
Image credits: Mathieu Lewis-Rolland/Getty Images
“Thankfully, none of our law enforcement was killed because of these deranged criminals’ attacks on law enforcement,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said.
The escalating unrest in Portland coincides with a major legal battle over the deployment of National Guard troops.
Late Sunday, U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut temporarily blocked the Trump administration from sending National Guard units to Oregon.
The ruling came hours after the administration attempted to deploy California and Texas National Guard troops to Portland, following Immergut’s earlier order blocking the use of Oregon’s own guard. Immergut granted a temporary restraining order after requests by California and Oregon.
During an emergency evening hearing on Sunday, Immergut questioned federal attorneys.
U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut blocked Trump from sending National Guard units to Oregon
Image credits: Wikimedia Commons/Peregrin0149
“How could bringing in federalized National Guard from California not be in direct contravention to the temporary restraining order I issued yesterday?”
“Aren’t defendants simply circumventing my order?” she said later. “Why is this appropriate?”
The White House did not immediately respond to this question, but Trump spoke to reporters on the White House’s South Lawn on Sunday.
“Portland is burning to the ground … All you have to do is look at the TV and read your newspapers. That judge ought to be ashamed of himself,” he said. Immergut, appointed by Trump himself in 2019, is a woman.
Image credits: The White House/Flickr
The temporary order will last 14 days, with a hearing for a preliminary injunction scheduled for October 29.
“President Trump’s actions are an effort to occupy and incite cities and states that don’t share his politics, and I believe that we should expect him to continue to push the limits of his authority,” Oregon Governor Tina Kotek said in a statement on Sunday evening.
Trump has described Portland as “war-ravaged” and a “war zone” that is “burning down” and like “living in hell.”
Local officials have said protests occupy only one block in a city covering 145 square miles. They also highlight that many of Trump’s claims and social media posts rely on images of Black Lives Matter protests from 2020.
Late Sunday, California Governor Gavin Newsom joined a pending lawsuit suing the federal government over the deployment of troops from his state to Oregon.
Gavin Newsom joined a pending lawsuit suing the federal government
Image credits: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
“This is a breathtaking abuse of the law and power,” Newsom said in a statement. “The Trump Administration is unapologetically attacking the rule of law itself and putting into action their dangerous words — ignoring court orders and treating judges, even those appointed by the President himself, as political opponents.”
California Attorney General Rob Bonta also announced on Sunday night that Oregon and California officials are joining forces to fight Trump’s latest move.
“The facts don’t come from Truth Social,” he told reporters during a video conference Sunday evening. “They come from reality, in the real world, on the ground.”
“And the facts on the ground did not justify the deployment yesterday, and I don’t see how it can justify the deployment today,” Bonta added.