OPB’s First Look: Crowd control tactics in court again

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Good morning, Northwest.

The legal wrangling over federal agents’ use of crowd control weapons against protesters outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland continues today in appeals court.

OPB’s Conrad Wilson and Troy Brynelson have closely tracked each case before the court and preview the proceedings to start today’s newsletter.

In other news, Washington state lawmakers have returned to their day jobs after the legislative session. Some are more pleased about that than others.

Here’s your First Look at Tuesday’s news.

—Bradley W. Parks

Federal officers’ tear gas tactics in Portland head to appeals court today

The Trump administration will argue Tuesday before a federal appeals court that its agents should not be restricted from using crowd control weapons on protesters outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland.

It’s a hearing that could dictate whether clouds of tear gas once again become a common sight at demonstrations in the city by striking down recently imposed legal guardrails around federal officers’ use of force on peaceful protesters.

Since June, the ICE building has served as a gathering place for frequent protests against immigration enforcement and other policies of President Donald Trump. At times, federal officers have responded to demonstrators with tear gas, pepper balls and flashbang grenades.

Today’s hearing will decide whether to continue restricting tear gas or not. (Conrad Wilson and Troy Brynelson)

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3 things to know this morning

• Former Portland Commissioner Rene Gonzalez is suing the city for its handling of campaign finance complaints made against him during his 2024 mayoral run. (Alex Zielinski)
• Two people are dead, one person is hospitalized and a fourth person is still missing after crashing into the Willamette River in downtown Portland early yesterday morning. (OPB Staff)
• Hundreds of low-income immigrant families that live in subsidized housing in Portland will soon see federal funding shrink due to a recent policy change. (Alex Zielinski)

Headlines from around the Northwest

• Washington’s Legislature is part-time. But after ‘brutal sessions,’ some want change (Sarah Mizes-Tan)
• Josephine County voters to decide animal shelter levy in May (Jane Vaughan)
• Fewer Canadian tourists are visiting Oregon following Trump political tensions (Mia Maldonado)
• Rural Washington schools struggle with drop in logging dollars (Aspen Ford)
• Jokic’s triple-double helps fuel Nuggets’ rally to beat Trail Blazers 137-132 in OT (Michael Kelly)

Listen in on OPB’s daily conversation

“Think Out Loud” airs at noon and 8 p.m. weekdays on OPB Radio, opb.org and the OPB News app. Today’s planned topics (subject to change):

• Severe drought impacting Oregon farmers as temperatures rise

It’s been a good couple years for beavers in Oregon

A New York nonprofit in 2009 dubbed April 7 as International Beaver Day. We here at First Look will never pass on the chance to recognize Oregon’s state animal.

In 2025, Oregon passed its second set of protections for beavers in as many years.

The state removed beavers from its list of “predatory” animals to “furbearing,” meaning it now requires a permit to kill a problem beaver. Oregon also restricted trapping along impaired waterways.

Stronger protections for beavers stem from improved understanding of the role of “nature’s engineers” in maintaining healthy ecosystems.

This story originally published in August 2025. (Kristian Foden-Vencil)

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