Photojournalist assaulted, gear damaged by federal officers in Oregon

Freelance photojournalist Hugo Rios was shoved, shot with crowd-control munitions and tear-gassed while documenting anti-deportation protests in Portland, Oregon, on Sept. 1, 2025, according to a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon in November.

The federal class-action suit — filed on behalf of Rios, freelance journalist Mason Lake and three protesters — names President Donald Trump, the Department of Homeland Security and its head, Kristi Noem. It alleges indiscriminate, retaliatory violence by DHS agents at protests at the “Portland ICE Building.”

“Despite the overwhelmingly peaceful activity, the Trump Administration has falsely characterized the building as ‘under siege’ and has authorized ‘full force’ in response,” the ACLU said in its summary of the case. “The lawsuit challenges these blatant attempts to retaliate against protesters and journalists and interfere with fundamental rights enshrined in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.”

According to the Nov. 21 complaint, Rios has worked as a freelance photojournalist for seven years and began documenting the anti-deportation protests in Portland in August. On Sept. 1, protesters gathered in a park in the South Waterfront district and, around midafternoon, marched toward the Immigration and Customs Enforcement building nearby.

“At the Portland ICE Building, the mood appeared to be positive,” the complaint said. “There was a DJ playing music, and people were dancing and chanting.”

Rios — who was wearing a black helmet, goggles and a Velcro “Press” label, and carrying various pieces of professional gear — filmed the scene, leaving to eat dinner and returning after.

According to the suit, shortly before 10:30 p.m., as demonstrators were still dancing, DHS officers began walking toward the crowd, deploying crowd-control munitions and tear gas canisters without warning.

As Rios filmed those officers walking through a gate, half a dozen others were advancing toward the crowd from a nearby street. “Suddenly, without warning or verbal command, a DHS officer pushed Mr. Rios from behind,” the suit said.

A few minutes later, another federal officer ordered Rios to move back. The photojournalist responded that he was “just filming,” but the officer said he didn’t care and shoved him back approximately four times, striking and damaging Rios’ camera in the process.

According to the suit, around six minutes later, a DHS officer deployed a tear gas canister at Rios’ feet, though he was standing alone and away from the crowd at the time.

“Given Mr. Rios’s isolation, the teargas attack appeared to be targeting him alone,” the suit alleged. “The attack frightened and shocked him. He felt frozen in place.”

Multiple DHS officers then repeatedly shot Rios with crowd control munitions, including pepper balls, without warning, striking him nearly two dozen times and denting his battery pack.

“Mr. Rios desires to continue covering protests at the Portland ICE Building,” the lawsuit said. “However, he is hesitant due to his fear that he will be targeted by Defendants again, and that the Defendants will injure him even more severely than they did on the night of September 1.”

Rios could not immediately be reached for comment, and DHS did not respond to an emailed request from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.

“Defendants must be enjoined from gassing, shooting, hitting and arresting peaceful Portlanders and journalists willing to document federal abuses as if they are enemy combatants,” the complaint says.