Portland Police Broke State Law Filming Protesters, Judge Rules

PORTLAND, OR – The Portland Police violated state law last year when they filmed and broadcast images of people at Black Lives Matter rallies. That's the ruling from Multnomah County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Ryan.

Ryan pointed out that the state law prohibits police from collecting information about a person's social, political, or religious views if that person is not the suspect in a criminal investigation.

Several protesters had filed suit saying that the police did just that by not only filming their images but by broadcasting them internally to the police bureau's situation room.

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Jude Ryan also found that the police actions violated an agreement between the bureau and City of Portland and the ACLU of Oregon about how information about protesters can and can't be collected.

"We are pleased that Judge Ryan was willing to apply Oregon law in a commonsense way to protect our right to protest without fear of government surveillance or government-supported doxing," ACLU Foundation of Oregon Legal Director Kelly Simon says.

"This should put all Oregon law enforcement agencies on notice that police have no business filming, photographing, or otherwise collecting information on protesters. Protest is fundamental to democracy. Protest is not a crime. Period.”

The Portland Police Bureau referred requests for comment to the city attorney's office. They have not yet responded to a request for comment at the time this story was published. It will be updated if that changes.