Mindy King is one of the residents of Gray's Landing, an apartment complex in Portland's South Waterfront. She's a plaintiff in a lawsuit over federal agents' use of chemical munitions near her home. The ICE facility is in the background.
Courtesy Mindy King
Earlier this month, a federal judge ordered agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement to scale back on their use of chemical munitions at the ICE facility on Portland’s South Waterfront. This was in response to a lawsuit brought by tenants of an apartment building that is less than a hundred feet away.
Mindy King is one of the residents of Gray’s Landing and is a named plaintiff in that lawsuit. She’s lived there for a decade and never imagined she would be in the center of a national debate over immigration enforcement and use of force.
“I would have never guessed that I would have to train my 14-year-old son how to tie back his hair so that he could get a seal on a gas mask to prevent us from getting gassed inside our home,” King says.
While she applauds the injunction that’s now in place, she knows it’s temporary.
“Honestly, it’s one of my biggest fears, to go backwards to them being able to use those chemical weapons against us,” King says. “If that were to be reversed, it would be devastating.”
King spoke with “All Things Considered” co-host Geoff Norcross.
Geoff Norcross: What’s your reaction to the injunction?
Mindy King: I’m thrilled. I think it’s a great step. It takes us towards the direction that we are wanting to go, which is them to not be using these chemical weapons against our citizens.
Norcross: It’s temporary, which means it could be reversed depending on the outcome of the trial. What would it mean for you if that injunction is lifted?
King: Honestly, it’s one of my biggest fears, to go backwards to them being able to use those chemical weapons against us. The ways in which it has impacted me and my family are significant, and the relief of knowing that I don’t have to stress about possibly leaving a window open or about not knowing that gas leaks into our apartment somehow, that relief is significant. If that were to be reversed, it would be devastating.
Norcross: Can you describe what it was like in your home when agents were using tear gas?
King: It felt more like Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Each time I would see them coming out of the driveway, I would feel it in my nervous system. I would look to see if I saw their gas masks on, assess what they were doing, whether I thought they were going to be tear gassing. And it was every time they came out the driveway, because I learned that it didn’t necessarily coincide with crowd size or activity within the crowd, that it could be a very small crowd or not much going on. In moments, it could change, and they could be having huge clouds of tear gas in our neighborhood.
Thick clouds of tear gas, deployed by federal immigration officers, fill the air hundreds of protesters, including children and elderly people, demonstrate outside of the ICE building in Portland, Jan. 31, 2026.
Eli Imadali / OPB
Norcross: And what did it feel like when that gas actually got into your living space?
King: Terrifying. I never imagined I would be dealing with that. I figured, if we have our windows closed, we are fine. The couple of times that it came through our windows were because I couldn’t get the air conditioner out fast enough. As soon as you hear them tear gassing, you have to go run and close all the windows, and it’s not just an easy thing to do. You have to rip the whole mechanism out of the window each time that it happened so that it couldn’t come in through that. And then the time that it came in through our front door, I was feeling very secure that our windows were closed. We were all safe and sound. We had masks just in case, but then to realize that it came in from the interior hallways was terrifying.
Norcross: I know you have a kid at home. What has all this meant for him?
King: It’s robbed him of part of his childhood. I can’t let him go out and wander the neighborhood. His school had to close down. It’s the school that’s across the street there. They had to change locations, and that was a significant change for him. He’s 14, and normally he’s a very responsible kid and can be left alone. But it has completely changed the way we run our lives.
Norcross: A lot of information has already come out in this trial about officers’ use of chemical munitions, and I’m wondering if, in the trial, anything remarkable or surprising has jumped out at you.
King: The first time I saw the propaganda video that they created and that they staged this situation to create that video and then put it out on social media, I was shocked. Infuriating does not even cover it. I couldn’t believe that our government put citizens through a situation like that to make propaganda.
Norcross: I think I understand what you’re referring to. It’s that an agent shot a tear gas canister over protesters and it landed very close to your building, the idea being that it created a scene that could be videoed that made Portland seem more dystopic than it was.
King: Yes, absolutely.
Norcross: This injunction only covers the use of chemical munitions. It can’t do anything about noise or anything else associated with protests. Given that fact, do you think life at home is really going to improve because of it?
King: As far as the protests — the noise, the people — It’s really not that big of a deal. Noise is an inconvenience. It’s not pleasant, sometimes worse, sometimes better. But what was intolerable for me and my family was dealing with the experience of the tear gas, the chemical weapons that there’s not even been enough research to know long-term what that does or what it does to a teenager who’s experiencing that.
Norcross: Are you or your family feeling any residual effects from the gas?
King: Yeah. I particularly have been struggling because I have a sore throat issue that has been coming and going around the tear gas. And so the residue around my apartments, on the screens, just me opening my windows, I started to feel the effects right away. And that’s something that feels like glass when you’re swallowing. So it’s something that still to this day, I can feel it a little bit. It’s starting to get better, but yeah, it’s a huge impact.
Norcross: How are your neighbors doing?
King: You know, I think my neighbors are doing okay. This is an extremely stressful environment to be in. Whether the government has been lawful or not in their operations is up for debate, so I’m not sure there’s a lot of people who feel as confident that this is going to stick. I think people are relieved to have at least something in place and know that the courts can step in and make an impact here. But yeah, I think we’re all a little nervous, on the edge, on when that’s going to change.
Norcross: How long have you lived at Gray’s Landing?
King: Ten years.
Norcross: When you moved in, did you have any idea that you would find yourself in the middle of this whole debate over immigration and law enforcement tactics?
King: No. I would have never guessed that I would have to train my 14-year-old son how to tie back his hair so that he could get a seal on a gas mask to prevent us from getting gassed inside our home.
Norcross: Do you want to stay?
King: Oh, that’s a hard question! I want to stay. I want to live here. I want to be safe in this community. This income-restricted apartment has been a lifesaver for me and my children. I could not have created this foundation that I have without it. But I wish I could feel confident enough to say that we can stay here and not worry about our safety and our health, But honestly, that is a stressful thing to think about.
