What it's like to see ICE tear gas kids

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Armed federal agents in full tactical gear with their faces covered crouched on the roof of the ICE building in Portland around 4:30pm local time on Saturday and started attacking protesters with chemical and physical munitions. Canisters of tear gas and rubber bullets rained over the crowd of people passing by with signs of protest against the tyrannical organization. People of all ages tried to flee as fast as they could, while sickened and half-blind from the vicious chemicals clouding the air. Residents of a low-income housing complex across the street watched in horror. Nearby, a six-year-old wondered if the unicorn she saw marching earlier was ok. 

Just moments before, a procession of thousands flowed through the streets of Portland’s South Waterfront neighborhood. It was an event organized by a coalition of labor unions that began with speeches at Elizabeth Caruthers Park and culminated in a march just down the street past the local ICE building. The plan was to keep the procession moving, but when some marchers crossed a no trespassing line in front of the building, federal officers reacted with immediate violence. The response revealed ICE and other related agency’s feelings: that they are at war, and the people are the enemy.

I spoke to eight people who were present about what they saw. All names have been changed to protect their privacy. 

“The first indication of anything was the explosion,” Ty told me. “It was unusual.” Ty was towards the back of the crowd, he explained, and was a bit removed from the deployment of flashbangs and tear gas. He and others around him put on n95 masks to try and protect themselves from the burning chemicals filling the air, seeing as most hadn’t come with the requisite supplies for what this event became.  

Zoe was marching with a group of friends who were about a block away from the ICE building chanting “shame” when the melee began. “We saw a few agents come onto the roof but I figured they were just observing,” she said. “Then I saw the gas get fired. There were at least five shots.”

About a minute after the gas release, Zoe said she started hearing people coughing and dry heaving. It started to hit her, too. “When I was walking away and struggling to breathe, a street medic in a British accent physically got in front of me and checked on me and helped me rinse my eyes out,” Zoe recalled. “She saw I wasn’t okay and helped me tremendously, even as my contacts were holding the gas behind my eyes.”

Like Ty and many others, Zoe hadn’t come prepared for war. “I didn’t know it would be that kind of March so I didn’t bring my gas mask or PPE,” she said.

In the immediate aftermath, Ty noticed a man squatting next to a bike trying to rinse out his child’s eyes. “The kid’s eyes were red and they were blubbering, not screaming, crying out or talking. The parent was flushing the kid’s eyes out and wiping their face, people were offering them water. Multiple medics were checking in on them.”

He added, “It’s just weird to see a toddler in a pink onesie getting their eyes washed out from tear gas, you know?” I told him of course, though in the back of my mind I hoped I’d never have to see it for myself.

The purpose of the march was decidedly dire, but by all accounts from people on the ground, it was a family atmosphere where locals turned out with children, elders, pets and signs in hand to show their opposition to ICE’s lawlessness. To use current parlance, it was a “No Kings”-type crowd. People were handing out whistles. On one corner, a young adult played the keytar, and the sun was still out. It made the abrupt change in mood and safety that much more jarring. Although the organizers made great efforts to keep the most vulnerable from going too close to the ICE building, the mass deployment of munitions made it impossible to shield them all.

“I was there with my two kids and many other families from our school and teachers,” Eric, another protester, said. “It was definitely the sunny Saturday afternoon peaceful protest. Then all of a sudden a series of explosions, flash bangs, tear gas and a growing cloud of smoke up ahead.”

He recalled some of the kids around them crying from the smoke and noise. His daughter was the one worried about the unicorn.

“We were all coughing and gasping for air,” Julie, a protester who was closer to the ICE building, recalled. “Kids were screaming. Everyone stayed calm enough so there wasn't a stampede or any trampling, which I was very afraid of because people were so desperate for air. It was horrible.”

That same day there had been a mass cyclist ride in the city to honor Alex Pretti, the VA nurse and avid cyclist killed by CBP agents the week before in Minneapolis. The mood was resolute but calm—that is until federal agents decided to create a mess that, thankfully, did not result in casualties.

Local Portland police were “utterly useless,” John, another attendee, told me. “They at least weren't helping ICE, but they also didn't care that tear gas was being indiscriminately flung all over the streets,” adding that the ICE building borders a residential neighborhood. “One cop we talked to—he appeared to be a lieutenant or commander—about babies being gassed said in response ‘that's too bad.’”

John said he, too, was astonished by the escalation of tactics, especially against an overwhelmingly white and middle class crowd. “Maybe a couple dozen black bloc folks were there up in front, crossing the property line,” he said. “I figured ICE would come out in force and try to seize them, maybe throw a canister or two of gas, to force black bloc back. And it was so much more vicious than that.”

“We saw the worst of the feds [Saturday] but we also saw the best of Portland,” Zoe said. “No crowd crush, no panic, no deaths. Just Portlanders helping Portlanders.” 

One witness I spoke to posited that the layout of that particular area of Portland, with its many alleys and egress routes, made it possible for the alarm not to escalate into full-on mayhem. Attendees took note of the remarkable care offered to the people suffering the most from the government’s unexpected and terrifying violence. 

“I’m so grateful for all the street medics and folks directing traffic out there yesterday, especially for the pets and kids and elders who were caught in the gas, and those of us who were retching and blinded,” Zoe said.

Ty believes that providing aid at protests is no longer something limited to a small segment of people. “I think what was once specialized knowledge has become well-shared and mainstream here; there are many people who are involved in this type of work at protests to either keep people safe like blocking off traffic or to help people if they’re hurt,” he said. 

I wondered if the sudden violence might keep people away from protests in the future. Most I spoke to said no way. One said less experienced protesters may choose to stay home as a result—but in this environment anything’s possible. “People can surprise you in all kinds of ways,” he said. “The outrage might outweigh the anxiety that comes from being in harm's way.”

It would be comforting to say this event was an aberration, but by Sunday evening federal forces were already replicating their tactics. Independent journalist Alisa Azar reported from outside the Portland ICE building that federal authorities began intensely gassing a group of a few hundred people who had just been chanting. She posted on Bluesky that she witnessed a little girl getting out of a car. “She's saying ‘oww’ and coughing, an older woman with her rushed her inside.” Azar wrote that “People were choking on gas over 6 blocks away.”

Portland Mayor Keith Wilson was already demanding ICE to leave his city before they struck again on Sunday. In a statement released Saturday evening he wrote: “To those who continue to make these sickening decisions, go home, look in a mirror, and ask yourselves why you have gassed children. Ask yourselves why you continue to work for an agency responsible for murders on American streets. No one is forcing you to lie to yourself, even as your bosses continue to lie to the American people.”