Incident details
- Date of incident
- October 2025
- Targets
- John Rudoff (Freelance)
- Assailant
- Law enforcement
- Was the journalist targeted?
- Unknown
Assault
The residue left on photographer John Rudoff’s pants after he was hit with a crowd-control munition while covering an immigration protest in Portland, Oregon, in October 2025.
Freelance photographer John Rudoff was shot in the leg with a crowd-control munition while covering a protest against immigration raids in Portland, Oregon, in October 2025.
Rudoff was covering one of a series of demonstrations that have taken place since June, when President Donald Trump ramped up immigration enforcement and later raised the possibility of deploying the National Guard to the city.
Rudoff asked the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker to omit the date of the incident to protect his sources. He told the Tracker that he was outside Portland’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility when federal officers began peppering people with projectiles.
Rudoff was shot in the ankle with what appeared to be a pepper ball, based on the chalky residue it left on his pants.
“In the heat of events, I just literally didn’t notice it,” he said.
Also that month, he was hit in the neck and arm with impact projectiles.
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment.
In February 2026, a judge temporarily restricted federal officers from using tear gas at protests outside the Portland facility. After the ruling, ABC News reported the agency said its officers “followed their training and used the minimum amount of force necessary to protect themselves, the public, and federal property.” It did not address the use of crowd-control munitions against members of the press.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogs press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to [email protected].
