The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has released footage showing a violent incident in Portland involving demonstrators protesting against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). According to DHS, approximately 250 individuals attacked a federal facility, deploying fireworks, using lasers to temporarily blind officers, and attempting to breach an ICE field office.
“Last night, Portland rioters violently targeted federal law enforcement—250 rioters launched fireworks, shined lasers in officers’ eyes to temporarily blind them, and stormed an ICE field office,” DHS stated. “Ultimately, five individuals were arrested on various charges including assault on federal law enforcement.”
The agency also condemned the attack and warned against continued violence toward federal officers. “We won’t sit idly by and watch these cowards. Our officers are facing a 413% increase in assaults against them as they put their lives on the line to arrest murderers, rapists, and gang members,” the statement continued. “Secretary Noem’s message to the rioters is clear: you will not stop us or slow us down. ICE and our federal law enforcement partners will continue to enforce the law. And if you lay a hand on a law enforcement officer, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
In Los Angeles, federal authorities have charged a Texas man in connection with an alleged plan to attack police officers during recent anti-ICE demonstrations. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed charges against 48-year-old Grzegorz Vandenberg, accusing him of “transporting explosives in interstate commerce with the knowledge and intent that that [sic] they would be used to kill, injure, or intimidate individuals,” according to CBS News.
The DOJ reported that on June 12, Vandenberg stopped at a travel center in Lordsburg, New Mexico, where he bought a selection of fireworks and explosive items. While making the purchase, he allegedly asked for recommendations on fireworks that could “be thrown directly at people to cause harm.”
“He told store employees that he was prior special forces military and claimed he could make pipe bombs,” the DOJ noted in a press release. “Vandenberg further stated that he was traveling to Los Angeles, California, for the riots, with the intent to kill law enforcement officers or government officials.”
He also allegedly inquired about the largest explosive devices the store had in stock and invited a staff member to “join him and his platoon in California.”
