A Judge Won't Force Federal Officers In Portland To Identify Themselves When Making Arrests

WASHINGTON - A federal judge on Friday denied a request by the Oregon attorney general's office for an order that would require federal law enforcement officers in Portland to identify themselves when making arrests and place limits on the detention and arrests of protesters.

US District Judge Michael Mosman found that state Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum lacked standing to bring a lawsuit on behalf of Oregon residents because her office hadn't articulated any specific state interest beyond the constitutional rights of individuals.

Rosenblum's office filed one of multiple pending lawsuits in federal court challenging the Trump administration's deployment of federal officers, largely from agencies within the US Department of Homeland Security, to Portland. Rosenblum's complaint accuses federal officers of violating the constitutional rights of Oregonians, citing reports that individuals have been picked up off the street and detained without probable cause.

Mosman's ruling came one day after another federal judge in Portland, US District Judge Michael Simon, granted an order restricting the activities of federal officers. Simon entered a temporary restraining order on Thursday that bars federal officers from arresting or using force specifically against journalists and legal observers at demonstrations unless there was probable cause that they had committed a crime. Simon also ruled that clearly marked journalists and legal observers did not have to follow dispersal orders, writing that journalists are present to report on whether law enforcement is acting within the law.

"Without journalists and legal observers, there is only the government's side of the story to explain why a 'riot' was declared and the public streets were 'closed' and whether law enforcement acted properly in effectuating that order," Simon wrote.

The offices of the inspector general for the departments of Homeland Security and Justice announced this week that they are investigating the actions by federal law enforcement officers in Portland.

Rosenblum's office asked Mosman to also enter an immediate order, while the case is pending, that would bar federal law enforcement officers from making arrests or detaining people without probable cause or a warrant, and require federal officers who do make arrests to identify themselves and explain the reason.

The Justice Department argued that the state of Oregon lacked standing to bring constitutional claims on behalf of its citizens because the state hadn't alleged any specific threat to its interests that were separate from those of private individuals.

The government also disputed that any Oregonian's constitutional rights had been violated. In response to a viral video that showed two officers wearing military-style uniforms that lacked identification forcibly escorting a man into an unmarked van, US Customs and Border Protection said it suspected the man had been involved in assaults on federal agents or property. The man in the video, Mark Pettibone, said he was not told why he was arrested and wasn't given any paperwork when he was released.

The Justice Department argued that there wasn't evidence that federal officers violated the First Amendment speech rights of protesters. Rosenblum's office contends that federal officers were deployed to Portland to discourage otherwise lawful protests from taking place.

Mosman heard arguments on July 22.