A startling new video has emerged from the nightly standoff outside Portland’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Oregon, and this time showing a federal agent blasting mace directly into the face of a woman who appeared to be standing alone and unarmed. The shocking clip is now ricocheting across social media, igniting fierce debates over the boundaries of federal power and protester rights.
A Lone Standoff Turns Violent
The clip, first aired by Fox News and circulated in a Newsweek report, shows two protesters lingering near the ICE building during an otherwise calm moment. One woman, wearing a hood and mask, stands directly in front of an armored federal officer. Without warning, the agent raises his canister and unleashes a stream of mace, hitting her point-blank in the face.
The crowd erupts in outrage as the woman stumbles back. “We did nothing!” one protester shouts, capturing the disbelief and anger of onlookers.
Eyewitnesses insist the woman posed no threat.
“She was yelling, but she wasn’t aggressive. She didn’t touch him, didn’t move forward and he just sprayed her,” one bystander later posted on X.
The Portland, Oregon Police Bureau quickly clarified it had no jurisdiction over federal personnel assigned to ICE facilities. Federal Protective Service officers operate under the direction of Washington, leaving local authorities sidelined. That divide has become a flashpoint in the city, where protesters claim the federal government uses heavy-handed tactics without local accountability.
The use of chemical sprays at Portland protests is not new, but this particular clip featuring a lone, stationary woman rather than a chaotic crowd has taken on symbolic weight. Civil liberties groups argue that it highlights the imbalance between heavily armed federal agents and unarmed citizens exercising their right to protest.
The Justice Department has not commented on whether the officer’s actions are under review. Calls for an investigation are already mounting. “If this is considered acceptable crowd control, we’ve lost the plot,” one ACLU spokesperson told reporters.
For protesters, the moment only reinforced their resolve. Demonstrators have vowed to return nightly, saying the viral video proves why their presence is necessary.
