DEFENDING FREE PRESS FROM FEDERAL POLICE DURING PORTLAND BLM PROTESTS

BHB alongside the ACLU of Oregon filed a class-action lawsuit on June 28, 2020 against the City of Portland, DHS, and the U.S. Marshals Service on behalf of journalists and legal observers who were targeted and attacked by law enforcement while documenting protests in the city over the killing of George Floyd. Journalists and legal observers were subjected to rubber bullets, tear-gassed, pepper-sprayed, beaten with batons, flash bangs directed at them, and faced arrest 

The District Court Judge issued a 14-day temporary restraining order blocking law enforcement from arresting, dispersing, threatening, or using physical force against journalists or legal observers covering the events. Additionally, the police were not allowed to seize any photographic equipment, audio- or video-recording equipment, press and legal observer passes, or order them to stop photographing, recording, or observing a protest - essentially preventing journalist and legal observers from doing their job and duty. In addition to seeking damages for injuries sustained, the lawsuit seeks an order declaring law enforcement’s actions unconstitutional and preventing them from further targeting journalist. The preliminary injunction was affirmed in a 70-page Ninth Circuit opinion that has been cited in protest cases around the country.

On March 2025, the City of Portland settled a lawsuit brought by BHB and ACLU of Oregon on behalf of journalists and legal observers who were assaulted by police in the 2020 protests in Portland. The Portland City Council voted 11-1 in favor of an Emergency Ordinance approving the settlement. It provides for a cash payment of almost $1 million and requires the City to maintain the protections that it put in place as a result of the lawsuit through the end of 2028. Those protections allow reporters and legal observers to remain present, even after police have ordered protesters to disperse, so that they may document how the police break up the protests

“Attacking the press is considered to be a violation of international human rights and international norms. It’s what happens in the most repressive countries in the world. It should not be happening here, and it should not be happening in Portland.”
— BHB attorney Matthew Borden