Portland Jobs With Justice Executive Director Assaulted by Federal Officers

On the current moment, the Portland Jobs with Justice Executive Board issues the following statement:

After President Donald Trump publicly ordered National Guard troops to suppress political activity in Portland, Portland Jobs With Justice joined activists from across the city in rallying against state violence at the local ICE facility on the South Waterfront. Although protesters remained nonviolent, federal officers and police in military fatigues physically attacked the crowd, spraying chemical agents directly into the eyes of Portland Jobs With Justice Executive Director Tyler Fellini.

“Our sister organizations, D.C. JwJ and Chicago JwJ were the first to bear the brunt of the federal crackdown and now Portland finds itself in the crosshairs,” says Fellini, who notes that when he saw a member of the Portland Association of Teachers being assaulted he stepped in to support him before being sprayed with pepper spray himself.

Fellini was joined by members and leaders from across Portland Jobs With Justice’s coalition, including major education, healthcare, and public employee unions. This act of violence underscores why Portland Jobs With Justice remains steadfast in rejecting calls to deploy National Guard troops in our city, why we support the City initiating a land use process to reconsider the permit authorizing ICE’s facilities, and why we ultimately demand the abolition of ICE and the violent deportations, detentions, and disappearances it carries out. The use of chemical agents is one more reason why residents—especially those living near the ICE facility—are calling on the city to revoke the permit, given the grave public health risks created by ICE’s presence.

We will continue to stand with unions and community organizations across Portland to build a movement of direct opposition to any federal incursion into our city. We demand that officials hold federal institutions and local police units accountable for their use of force and brutality. Portland Jobs With Justice commits to sponsoring coalition actions aimed at ending ICE arrests and preventing the use of federal military troops in our streets. We believe this is one of the most urgent labor issues of our time, as workers and organizers throughout our community face spurious arrests and violent repression while the Trump administration seeks to use these threats to suppress collective action to build a just and equitable society where workers and communities thrive.