Incident details
- Updated on
- Date of incident
- July 4, 2025
- Targets
- Mason Lake (Independent)
- Case number
- 3:25-cv-02170
- Case status
- Ongoing
- Type of case
- Class Action
- Assailant
- Law enforcement
- Was the journalist targeted?
- Yes
Assault
Federal officers deploy tear gas during a protest outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland, Oregon, on July 4, 2025. Independent journalist Mason Lake said federal agents targeted him with projectiles while he covered the event.
Oregon journalist sues federal government over DHS violence at protests
Independent journalist Mason Lake filed a federal class-action lawsuit on Nov. 21, 2025, against President Donald Trump, the Department of Homeland Security and its head, Kristi Noem, alleging indiscriminate, retaliatory violence by DHS agents at protests in Portland, Oregon.
Lake, along with journalist Hugo Rios and three protesters, filed the suit on behalf of those who have reported on or attended protests outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland, where the complaint says their First Amendment rights were violated.
DHS agents have violently targeted journalists and protesters in retaliation for reporting on and protesting against the government’s immigration policies, the plaintiffs argue.
ICE has vastly increased its deportation efforts after receiving an expansive mandate and billions of dollars from Trump; in response, protests have spread across the country, and journalists have been assaulted more than a hundred times by law enforcement while reporting on them, according to 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.
Lake was assaulted multiple times by federal agents this year while reporting on protests outside the facility. He was shot with a pepper round, targeted twice in one night with projectiles, and aimed at with a rifle and pepper-sprayed.
Independent journalist Mason Lake said federal agents targeted him with crowd-control projectiles while covering an immigration enforcement protest in Portland, Oregon, on July 4, 2025.
Lake, a Portland-based videographer and founder of independent outlet Channel Heed, was documenting a protest at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility at the time.
In one video from the scene posted to YouTube, an officer on the roof of the facility appears to take aim at Lake, whose camera visibly jolts. Lake told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the round went right by his head.
Later, the federal officers aggressively advanced on the crowd, with tear gas deployed for nearly an hour in 15-to-20-minute waves, according to Lake. He described a chaotic scene where officers used tear gas and flash-bang grenades indiscriminately, the hot munition canisters starting fires.
Close to midnight, while the gas thickened and concealed officers’ movements, Lake said he was shot twice — with one projectile hitting his camera monopod and another striking the region between his lower gut and groin, which he also captured on video.
“They did shoot me, but thankfully I had armor on,” he said.
Lake said the projectiles likely came from ICE’s special response team, based on uniform patches he captured on video. Despite the risk of injury or damage to his gear, he emphasized his commitment to preserve history by documenting these events with high-quality footage.
“It’s very disconcerting to see how free press has been trampled,” he said. “The best we can do is push back and make sure the truth isn’t run over.”
In a statement emailed to the Tracker, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin urged journalists to be cautious while covering what she characterized as “violent riots,” and added that President Trump and Secretary Kristi Noem “are committed to restoring law and order.”
The Tracker has documented 15 other incidents since 2020 in which Lake has been assaulted while covering Portland protests.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogs press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to [email protected].
