"A federal judge has temporarily restricted immigration officers from shooting teargas or projectile munitions at protesters outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland, Oregon, which has been the site of repeated demonstrations since last year that the Trump administration has increasingly met with force. The US district judge Michael Simon's ruling comes after a weekend in which immigration agents at the ICE building fired teargas, pepper balls and rubber bullets into a crowd of thousands of protesters that included children."
"Defendants' violence is in no way isolated, the order reads, adding that the culture of the agency and its employees is to celebrate violent responses over fair and diplomatic ones. The order bars federal officers from using chemical or projectile munitions unless the person targeted poses an imminent threat of physical harm. Simon also limited federal officers from firing munitions at the head, neck or torso unless the officer is legally justified in using deadly force against that person."
US District Judge Michael Simon issued a 14-day temporary restraining order limiting federal officers' use of chemical and projectile munitions at protesters outside the Portland ICE building unless the targeted person poses an imminent threat of physical harm. The order also prohibits firing munitions at the head, neck or torso unless deadly force would be legally justified. The order followed a weekend when immigration agents fired teargas, pepper balls and rubber bullets into a crowd that included children despite local officials describing the protest as peaceful. The ACLU of Oregon sued on behalf of protesters and freelance journalists, naming the Department of Homeland Security, its head Kristi Noem, and Donald Trump, alleging retaliation that chills First Amendment rights. DHS did not immediately respond, and courts elsewhere are also considering federal agents' use of chemical munitions.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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