‘Straight out of the authoritarian playbook’: Oregon leaders react to shooting by Border Patrol in Portland

Oregon leaders condemned the violence and called for calm in the hours immediately following the shooting of two people by a federal immigration agent in east Portland.

“Trump’s immigration machine is using violence to control our communities — straight out of the authoritarian playbook,“ said Rep. Maxine Dexter, a Democrat, in a statement. “I encourage our community to stay calm and show courage in this moment. We must allow our local law enforcement to do its work.”

U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents shot and wounded a man and a woman Thursday afternoon in a medical clinic parking lot near Adventist Medical Center in Southeast Portland, authorities and witnesses said.

One was shot in the leg and the other in the chest, Portland police sources said. They are believed to be a married couple.

The agent who shot the two was not immediately identified.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, said agents were trying to make a traffic stop and characterized the shooting as self-defense.

U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, a Democrat and frequent critic of President Donald Trump, echoed Dexter’s call for calm and suggested that reacting violently would be doing what Trump wants.

“Please keep protests of Trump’s (immigration agents) peaceful, as Trump wants to generate riots,” Merkley said. “Don’t take the bait.”

Reyna Lopez, president and executive director of PCUN, Oregon’s Farmworkers Union, extended her thoughts to the victims and said the shooting was further proof that federal immigration agencies put people in danger.

“We demand our state and local elected officials to do everything in their power to remove federal agents from our communities, conduct a full and independent investigation, and prioritize the safety of Oregonians,” Lopez wrote.

Portland Mayor Keith Wilson also weighed in quickly, saying Portland is not a “training ground” for militarized immigration agents, using a term Trump used last fall when he ordered federalized National Guard members to Oregon.

“We cannot sit by while constitutional protections erode and bloodshed mounts,” Wilson said.

At a press conference Thursday evening, Gov. Tina Kotek said Oregonians were “united in peaceful opposition” to the fear that federal actions had instilled in people and demanded a transparent investigation of them.

“Oregonians deserve clear answers,” Kotek said.

State. Sen. Christine Drazan, a Republican seeking to challenge Kotek in this year’s gubernatorial race, said she wants federal officials to arrest Tren de Aragua gang members and make communities safer. She said an investigation will determine if the use of force was warranted.

“The last thing we need in a moment like this is a bunch of grandstanding politicians exploiting this situation and inciting fear to advance their own political agendas,” she said in a statement.

The three Portland City Council members who represent east Portland, where the shooting took place, said immigration agents in their communities did not make residents there safe.

In a joint statement issued ahead of the press conference, Councilors Candace Avalos, Jamie Dunphy and Loretta Smith wrote that the real threat to community safety is immigration agents “harassing, targeting, detaining — and in some tragic cases — killing our neighbors.”

“This federal government is going to spin the story like they do every time one of their agents hurts a community member,” the councilors wrote. “It’s on all of us to keep speaking the truth, to keep on bearing witness, because our community’s voices outweigh their lies every time.”

East Portland is the most diverse area of the city, with 47% of residents in that city council district identifying as non-white.

The rest of the Democrats among Oregon’s elected federal officials joined Dexter and Merkley in condemning the violence. Rep. Cliff Bentz, the delegation’s sole Republican, did not respond to a request for comment from The Oregonian/OregonLive and has not issued a statement.

Rep. Janelle Bynum, a Democrat elected in 2024, condemned the federal government’s actions.

“This isn’t law enforcement, it’s state-sponsored terrorism,” Bynum wrote.

Rep. Suzanne Bonamici called for those responsible for the shooting to be held accountable under the law.

“This violence must stop now,” she said. “Those responsible must be investigated – and not just by Kash Patel’s FBI – and held accountable”

Oregon’s longest serving senator, Ron Wyden, also weighed in on the social media platform X.

“Trump’s deployment of federal agents in my hometown is clearly inflaming violence — and must end,” Wyden, a Democrat, wrote on X.

Also on X, Rep. Andrea Salinas called on Oregonians to remain peaceful and said state and local law enforcement should be included in the effort to ensure all facts come to light.

And Rep. Val Hoyle expressed conflicting sentiments shared by many Oregonians after months of increasing federal immigration enforcement in Portland and other Oregon cities.

“Part of me feels angry. Part of me feels exhausted. And part of me feels helpless,” she wrote. “But I do know this: we can’t give up. We have to urgently investigate the facts and make our voices heard peacefully.”

Oregon’s attorney general, Dan Rayfield, said the reports of the shooting by a border patrol agent were deeply troubling.

“We have been clear about our concerns with the excessive use of force by federal agents in Portland, and today’s incident only heightens the need for transparency and accountability,” Rayfield wrote. “Oregonians deserve clear answers when people are injured in their neighborhoods.”

Multnomah County Sheriff Nicole Morrisey O’Donnell made clear that her agency was not involved in the shooting and urged calm.

“The use of deadly force by law enforcement weighs heavily on all of us who serve,” she said.

In a joint statement, Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson and the county’s four commissioners said: “Enough is enough.”

“The county will not stand by as the federal government attacks our neighbors,” commissioners wrote. “We stand united in our support for our immigrant and refugee neighbors.”

From the nearby city of Beaverton, Mayor Lacey Beaty, an Army veteran, wrote that Beaverton “stands in solidarity” with Portland’s leaders, first responders and residents.

“In Beaverton, we are clear about our values,” she said. “We do not participate in federal immigration enforcement and our police do not coordinate with ICE or Customs and Border Protection operations. Our responsibility is to ensure residents can access city services and local support without fear.”