🔗 Share this article Kristi Noem Tours Portland ICE Facility Alongside Conservative Personalities The South Dakota governor, who holds the position of the head of the Department of Homeland Security, inspected the federal immigration enforcement location in Portland, Oregon on Tuesday. On site, she witnessed a small gathering outside, which stands in stark contrast to the dramatic "blockade" claimed by the former president. Accompanied by MAGA Personalities The secretary was escorted by a group of conservative influencers who were whisked from the local airport to the ICE office in her motorcade. DHS has recently produced more aggressive digital updates depicting federal personnel performing immigration raids and firing tear gas at protesters. Demonstration Details Officers secured the area outside the building in the city’s south waterfront neighborhood before the Noem's visit. A small group individuals, including one in the outfit of a bird and another as a baby shark, were held back. A song was audible from a protest encampment nearby, with a refrain referencing Trump and controversial documents. A demonstrator called out to a government videographer recording from the roof, challenging whether the Department of Homeland Security had been referred to as the "propaganda department". Media Access Members of the press from nonpartisan media organizations were also kept at the security perimeter outside, while the conservative personalities in the secretary's group—three right-wing influencers—shared social media updates of the Noem conducting federal personnel in a prayer session inside, giving a pep talk, and instructing a individual of the state guard to "Get ready". Recent Rulings Noem has supported the Trump's assertions that the small band of protesters—who have assembled in their small numbers outside the office since recent months, including one in an frog outfit—are "extremists" who have placed the facility "in a state of siege", making the sending of DHS agents essential. However, on a recent weekend, a federal judge in Oregon blocked Trump’s effort to nationalize Oregon’s National Guard, ruling that the Trump's claims that the mostly calm city was "being destroyed" were "not based on reality". A day later, the same judge, Karin Immergut—who was nominated to the judiciary by Trump—broadened the ruling to block guard members from other states from being used in the city. The judge ruled after he reacted to her first order by trying to send members of the California's guard to Portland. Escalating Tensions Since the former president drew attention the modest but continuous gathering outside the ICE facility and made unsubstantiated allegations that the city is "in a state of war", a rising count of his supporters, including conservative personalities, have appeared to confront the protesters. Several of these clashes have resulted in scuffles and brawls, leading to detentions by the Portland police. A conservative personality was among those arrested after he tried to force his way a protest encampment on a pavement near the site and was engaged in a fight over an American flag. He had previously taken the flag from a individual who was burning it. The charges against him were later dropped after an backlash in conservative media induced the head of the legal unit of the Justice Department, a department official, to suggest a review of the law enforcement agency over alleged anti-conservative bias. Two individuals the influencer was involved in an altercation with still have pending accusations. Government Statements Recently, Oregon’s governor, Tina Kotek, claimed federal officers in the ICE facility of trying to provoke the demonstrators by using unnecessary levels of crowd control agents in a local community and including conservative social media influencers to document the crowd from the top of the facility. "They are deliberately inciting," Kotek said. Several of those MAGA-aligned figures were referred to in a law enforcement document last month as "opposing demonstrators" who "repeatedly come back and antagonize the protesters until they are assaulted or exposed to irritants" and resist "frequent warnings from law enforcement to stay away from" the group. Social Media Updates A conservative personality, a former journalist who reinvented himself as a Christian nationalist influencer after being fired from BuzzFeed for ethical violations, posted footage of Noem viewing from the roof of the office at the small group of demonstrators below, including Jack Dickinson who wears a chicken costume to ridicule Trump. The influencer labeled the footage of Noem inspecting the peaceful setting below: "DHS Secretary Kristi Noem stares down army of Antifa and a guy in a chicken suit". Regardless of the contrast between the claims from Trump and Noem that this facility is "besieged" from "homegrown extremists" and clear visual evidence of a limited group of individuals in non-threatening attire, the personalities with her continued to label the group as harmful activists. Discussion with Law Enforcement While in Portland, the secretary also held a discussion with the law enforcement head, Bob Day, who has been depicted as "liberal" in conservative media for authorizing his law enforcement to detain Nick Sortor. In a online post on the meeting, Benny Johnson asserted that the police head had "sided with violent ANTIFA militants assaulting journalists and officers outside ICE facility". Her security detail then left the office past a handful of protesters on the nearby road, including one in the costume of a animal wearing a sombrero.