Officials with the city of Portland and Multnomah County are imploring for peace from people who plan to participate in nationwide protests this weekend against the Trump administration’s deportation tactics.

Cities across the country are bracing for an organized day of protest Saturday called the “No Kings Nationwide Day of Defiance,” which falls on President Donald Trump’s 79th birthday.

In Portland, demonstrators have already repeatedly clashed with federal officers this week outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility.

A dozen local officials acknowledged the mounting tensions during a press conference Friday where they took turns trying to balance their stated support for peaceful protest while discouraging vandalism and violence.

“We affirm the right to free speech while emphasizing the violence, destruction and obstruction carry consequences,” Mayor Keith Wilson said. “We are strongest when we act with calm and purpose together.”

More than 1,500 protests are scheduled nationwide, fueled partly by federal officers descending into Los Angeles last weekend and clashing with pro-immigration protesters. Activists have shown support by taking to the streets in cities like Portland, Seattle, San Francisco and Las Vegas.

The heightened tensions led officials to repeatedly evoke memories from 2020, where demonstrators in Portland battled with federal and local officers outside the Mark O. Hatfield federal courthouse every night for months.

Speakers Friday called for peaceful demonstrations that, they said, would send a clearer message; and many denounced the Trump administration for outraging thousands locally and across the country.

“I urge us to continue to resist strategically falling into Trump’s authoritarian playbook,” Portland City Councilor Tiffany Koyama Lane said.

Law enforcement officials stressed that they will be out in force this weekend, but declined to offer specifics about their strategies for policing the protests.

The Portland Police Bureau, mandated by Oregon’s sanctuary law to not assist in immigration enforcement, has been careful about when to intervene.

Wilson, who oversees the police bureau, stressed that local police will continue to ignore federal law enforcement efforts. The first-term mayor also said the city would hold the feds accountable if necessary.

“Our officers will not be used as agents of ICE,” Wilson said. “And when we see federal abuse, we will bring it to light. We will take action and take the fight to the federal courts, where we will win.”

Demonstrators have largely directed their energy at federal officers staffing the ICE facility in Portland’s south waterfront. Local police have typically intervened after reports of property destruction, like a small fire lit Thursday night near the office’s driveway.

Portland police have arrested at least 10 protesters so far this week, but have mostly not engaged with the crowds.

Police Chief Bob Day said the bureau is trying to thread a delicate needle of monitoring protests without agitating the protesters themselves.

“We take the temperature, we try not to escalate,” Day said. “We have such a heavy emphasis around de-escalation.”

Day said he is in regular communication with ICE, as he has said several times this year. But he noted he and his federal counterparts have not shared any information with each other.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/06/13/portland-officials-urge-calm-weekend-protests/