Federal Court Limits Use of Crowd Control Munitions in Portland

In February 2026, U.S. District Court Judge Michael Simon ruled that federal officers operating at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland, Oregon, are prohibited from using chemical or projectile munitions—including tear gas, pepper balls, and other crowd control devices—unless the specific target of the weapon poses an imminent threat of physical harm to an officer or another person. The order also restricts the targeting of a person's head, neck, or torso unless the officer is justified in using deadly force. While some subsequent appellate rulings have granted federal officers broader latitude in other related cases, this district court order remains a significant development in the oversight of federal crowd control tactics. Agencies are increasingly facing pressure to standardize documentation and justify the use of less-lethal tools through event-level logs and targeted enforcement analysis.