The honking from passing drivers was incessant during the afternoon of July 11 at the downtown Bend Peace Corner.
For the roughly 50 protesters mingling at the corner of NW Portland and Wall, those honks of solidarity was a good thing, if the two recent local arrests and Houston shooting death by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement were anything but.
The protest, “From Houston to Central Oregon: Abolish ICE Everywhere,” was organized by the Central Oregon chapter of 50501, a national activism group and resource for immigrant rights. Colloquially, this is the weekly “ICE Out” protest that has held forth since September.
Far from the black-clad, Antifa archetype, the protesters instead seemed cut from the cloth of everyday Central Oregonians.
A woman wearing capris, river sandals, a blouse and sunhat waved a sign overhead: “ICE = Rogue Death Squad.” A sandy-haired man wearing a golf shirt, khaki shorts and boat shoes foisted a sign that read: “Corrupt. Senile. Pedophile. Impeach. Convict. Remove.”
Spanish-language Reggaetón piped from a portable speaker. A card table featured packets of bilingual immigrant bill of rights, handy in the event of an ICE stop.
Yet not all passersby were on board.
“These people need to get a f*ckin’ life,” a man, also wearing a golf shirt and boat shoes, shouted over his shoulder as he ambled with companions along Portland Avenue.
The weekly protest had a renewed urgency on July 11. Just days before, agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement shot and killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a construction worker and father of three in Houston. The day after the Araujo killing, July 8, federal immigration authorities arrested two men in Bend, the Portland Immigration Rights Coalition confirmed with the Source. The group did not respond to follow-up emails regarding their identities.
Unknowable to the Bend protesters on July 11, ICE would shoot and kill a 26-year-old man in Biddeford, Maine, on the morning of July 13.
At the July 11 gathering, a man joined the sign-waving ranks, carrying one of his own. A counter-protestor, he concealed his identity with the neck gaiter he’d pulled over his face. His sign advocated waging war against citizens he deemed, “godless Marxist fascist scum,” among other indictments. Protestors cajoled him to remove his mask. He stood mostly silent, thronged by protestors who took turning blocking his sign’s message with those of their own for the duration of the hour-long protest.
On a less raucous corner, Stan Oliver wore a long-sleeve, hooded sun tee, holding a sign that read “Silence is Compliance” and, on the other side, a red-white-and-blue banner featuring a crossed-out swastika and the word “never.” He designed his sign holder to allow him to easily swap out the messages from between plexiglass slides.
Oliver said he’s been protesting at the Peace Corner since the beginning of the first Trump administration. And during the 1960s, as a young man, he protested the shooting deaths of students by National Guardsmen at Kent State.
“There are a lot of people behind this, and it’s nice to see how many people keep supporting this,” Oliver said. “It’s hard to come out here all the time, and there are people here every week.”
Oliver said he’s been impressed by the protesters outside the ICE detention center in Portland.
“That’s been an interesting example on how to protest without directly confronting people in a way that turns them off. I think it’s important for people who oppose this administration to be heard.”
While Oliver was speaking, two teen boys whipped by on e-motos, gesturing with middle fingers and yelling obscenities at protesters. Oliver tracked the provocation.
“I like smiling at those people,” he said. “That behavior is what Trump has encouraged — the ugliest part of people. Now we see that all the time.”
Oliver says he’s eyeing the 2026 midterm elections to see if congressional power tips away from Trump-supporting lawmakers. He’s also tracking any potential interference with ballot counting and allegations of voter fraud.
“They’re really stepping things up right now. It wouldn’t surprise me if they have some shenanigans where they confiscate ballots, under the auspices of an emergency,” Oliver said. “That could be a sign of the end of free elections. That’s very concerning.”
That skepticism was warranted. On June 24, a federal judge permanently blocked essential sections of Trump’s executive order from March 2025 that would have required eligible voters to prove citizenship and have negated mail-in ballots that arrived after Election Day. The following day, the U.S. Department of Justice sent letters to every secretary of state, threatening to prosecute elections officials.
Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read issued a statement that rivals the unflappable-ness of any protester’s signage:
“The U.S. DOJ is knocking on our door again with more threats and no evidence to back up their fever dreams about non-existent voter fraud,” Read stated. “I’m not intimidated by political threats or manufactured controversy. …We’ve beaten back every illegal executive order and lawsuit so far. We’re ready to do it again, as many times as it takes.”
Since ICE’s shooting deaths of protestors in Minneapolis in January, federal immigration authorities have kept a lower profile. Nonetheless, immigration authorities have clocked record arrests throughout the country. In the last five days of June, federal immigration authorities have made 10,000 detainments, according to The New York Times. Cities particularly targeted have been Chicago, Los Angeles and Houston.
50501 Central Oregon is the local chapter of the national 50501 initiative, whose name is short for “50 protests, 50 states, 1 movement” and states its purpose as fighting for democracy against fascism and the billionaire class.
The Central Oregon chapter has organized the weekly Defend Democracy protests since October and, notably, the No Kings rally in Drake Park on March 28. The group also led local vigils and protests of the federal immigration authorities’ shooting deaths of Renée Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis in January.
As the “ICE Out” protestors wrapped up after their scheduled gathering, three young adults remained. They said they were there do their part to keep “atrocious things” from happening to more of their neighbors.
“I think it’s important we raise awareness that we are a melting pot country, we are a nation of immigrants living on stolen land,” said Flicker Bryan. “We have no right to kick out people who have come here after us.”
This article appears in the Source July 16, 2026.
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This is the second deadly force encounter involving ICE agents and mis-identified individuals who have been shot and killed during attempted traffic stops. And the second such incident where body cameras were not in use.
Twice in one week’s time reveals a pattern on the part of ICE enforcement and demands immediate action.
1. All such operations where body cameras are not available / or being utilized by ICE agents must be stopped. No excuses – no blame game on government shutdowns and funding. Body cameras keep all Parties honest and safer and remind law enforcement they are on record as to actions and words.
2. Rolling traffic stops are among the most dangerous law enforcement actions that can be undertaken. In both recent fatal shootings the attempted stops have taken place in neighborhoods and on busy streets. Only under the most extreme circumstances should a rolling stop be attempted in such areas and with authorization given by the on-scene supervisor or agent in charge…and filmed by body camera or dash camera. If an agent / team can’t better plan / coordinate a stop at a safer location then don’t.
3. Mis-identification is unacceptable risk, period. If a subject is not positively identified by any number of means available then call it a day. You can always come back again or locate the subject elsewhere and confirm her/his identity. “They” do not all look alike and such thinking is unacceptable.
4. “He weaponized the vehicle” is wearing very thin. Unless a known and violent criminal whose intent is to escape / evade arrest is the case the vast majority of drivers are now simply terrified when the lights and sirens come on, and confused as to what they should or should not do. Understanding this agents should, if at all possible (body cameras present) simply get out of the way. Been there – done that. The Public’s safety at large is far more important than an agent’s ego while attempting, sometimes with a drawn duty weapon, to stop a 2000 pound vehicle in a busy intersection or on a neighborhood street.
Finally – ICE leadership has fallen prey to the numbers game. Ten thousand arrests in a month is a quota and quotas are illegal when applied to civilian law enforcement. Quotas force officers or agents to plan poorly, skip necessary steps (i.e. contingency planning), and move too swiftly during the execution of an arrest attempt. This how and why people get killed. ICE local and regional leadership must be held accountable for their agents’ training and the provision of proper equipment such as body cameras and proper planning / rehearsal of each day’s operations.
The most important aspect of ICE operations is precision teamwork, coordination, and training. The primary and ethical / moral objective is to resolve high-risk, dangerous situations with no loss of life if at all possible or avoidable.
Law enforcement professionals are not judges, juries, and certainly not executioners.
Apparently just hours ago ICE suspended rolling traffic arrest efforts across the country –
And…Trump has overridden Tom Homan and ordered these restarted en masse.
This is what you call “Useful Idiots” 🥴