A 24-year-old Portland man has been arrested and accused of assaulting a federal officer during last month’s protests outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building.
Robert Jacob Hoopes, who was raised a Quaker and pacifist, pleaded not guilty Monday as he was flanked by supporters in the courtroom at the U.S. District Court of Oregon. Before the hearing, dozens of people gathered at Lownsdale Park, across from the federal courthouse, to protest the charges.
Supporters of Robert Jacob Hoopes demonstrate outside the federal court house on July 28, 2025. Hoopes is accused of throwing a rock that struck an ICE officer and damaging government property.
Troy Brynelson / OPB
Hoopes was arrested July 25, more than a month after a June 14 protest at the ICE building that coincided with the nationwide “No Kings” demonstrations.
That day, Department of Justice attorneys allege, he threw rocks at the building and at ICE officers. Prosecutors also allege Hoopes and another man used a stop sign to batter the building’s front doors.
Federal judge Youlee Yim You agreed to release Hoopes from custody with a GPS ankle monitor. The judge said her decision was based in part on the support shown for Hoopes in the courtroom.
Tom Hoopes flew in from Pennsylvania that night of his son’s arrest. He told OPB that he was both proud of his son for defending immigrants and concerned for him.
“I’m feeling protective and scared,” Tom Hoopes said. “His mother and I are beyond grateful for the enormous groundswell of love and support we have felt from the extended community.”
Hoopes grew up steeped in Quakerism and attended George School, a Quaker boarding school in Pennsylvania, where his father heads the school’s religions department. Hoopes moved to Portland to attend Reed College.
The elder Hoopes described his son as “open-hearted” and full of “beauty, power and righteous love.”
“People were joking that by the time he left the jail, he would have made friends with all the prison guards and unionized them before he left,” Tom Hoopes said.
According to social media posts said to be written by Hoopes’ roommates, federal agents detained him around 9 a.m. Friday, armed with assault rifles. The government’s allegations against Hoopes weren’t made public until Monday.
In court records unsealed Monday afternoon, prosecutors wrote that they found Hoopes by cross-referencing a tattoo on his left arm with newspaper photos of the June 14 protest with photos posted on social media linked to Reed College.
A representative for Reed College did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
A DOJ prosecutor wrote that they called Reed College’s director of community safety, who disclosed Hoopes’ address and phone number.
DOJ prosecutors played security camera footage at the hearing that they said contradicts Hoopes’s pacifist claims.
A photo of an ICE officer who was allegedly struck with a rock at the Portland ICE building on June 14, 2025. Robert Jacob Hoopes is accused of throwing the rock that hit him, and has been charged with aggravated assault of a federal officer.
Department of Justice
The videos show a man, whom they identify as Hoopes, throwing at least four rocks near the front doors of the ICE building. At one point, they said, Hoopes got close enough to the front door to throw a rock inside that hit an ICE officer. The footage did not show what happened inside the building.
“This from a person who would like you to believe he’s a Quaker pacifist,” DOJ prosecutor Gary Sussman said.
In court records unsealed Monday afternoon, prosecutors said the thrown rock caused a 2-inch gash on the officer’s right eyebrow that couldn’t initially be closed with bandages, sutures or glue.
Hoopes, they allege, also used an e-scooter to try and wedge the front doors closed. Later, they said, he and another man used the stop sign to batter the front doors. The government estimated the damage cost roughly $7,700.
“Those were very violent acts,” Sussman said. “He was organizing others. He did this with no provocation.”
Sussman asked the judge to hold Hoopes until his Aug. 15 hearing, but the judge ultimately decided to release him.
People gathered outside the federal courthouse in Portland on July 28, 2025, to support Robert Jacob Hoopes. Hoopes is accused and was charged with throwing a rock that struck an ICE officer, as well as damaging property.
Troy Brynelson / OPB
Besides Hoopes’ father, court attendees included his girlfriend, a roommate and multiple people who were once Hoopes’ teachers.
Dylan McNamee, who was Hoopes’ undergraduate thesis adviser at Reed, called the judge balanced in her reasoning. He said he wasn’t convinced by the prosecutors because they had no footage of any rocks hitting officers.
“If there’s no video inside the building, I have no trust this isn’t completely fabricated,” McNamee said. “The Jacob I know would not hurt somebody, eye-to-eye, with a rock.”
