PPB Monitors Protest Activity; Two Arrests Made

On Saturday, January 10, 2026, events were scheduled in Tom McCall Waterfront Park and Dawson Park. An Incident Management Team, which is overseen by a Crowd Management Incident Commander (CMIC), was activated for this event. This included PPB's Rapid Response Team, Mobile Field Forces and Dialogue Liaison Officers (DLOs), wearing white uniform shirts, serving as liaisons to demonstrators. They are sworn officers with arrest powers, but their goal is to foster communication. PPB is grateful for the assistance of Portland Fire & Rescue and Portland Park Rangers.

PPB Dialogue Officers worked closely with event coordinators to help facilitate the event at Waterfront Park. A separate group arrived and began an unplanned march downtown. The coordinators were able to help manage the event with minimal involvement of law enforcement and returned to the park peacefully. Another smaller event was held at Dawson Park which required no police intervention.

On the evening of Saturday, January 10, 2026, the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) activated an Incident Management Team to monitor protest activity in the South Portland Neighborhood near the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) building. PPB resources included the Rapid Response Team (RRT), Dialogue Liaison Officers (DLOs), Mobile Field Forces, the Air Support Unit, and Sound Truck personnel. The Portland Police Bureau is also grateful for the assistance of Portland Fire & Rescue and the Oregon State Police.

Officers who were monitoring the event recognized two people who were wanted for previous, unrelated events.

Hailey M. Knight, 27, of Portland, was arrested on probable cause for Harassment, related to an incident where she pushed a Portland Police Officer at a public order event on January 9, 2026 near South Bancroft Street and South Moody Avenue (case number 26-9245).

Jennifer M. Bitgood, 43, unknown address, was arrested on a warrant for Unlawful Use of a Weapon and Coercion (case number 25-348901). The warrant stemmed from a shooting that took place on December 21, 2025 in the Mt. Tabor Neighborhood, in which another person was arrested for the shooting and charged with Attempted Murder. Additional information about that case will be released at a later time.

To date, the total number of arrests related to ICE protest activity is 82.

PPB does not engage in immigration enforcement as outlined in PPB Directive 810.10, but is still responsible for maintaining public safety and enforcing state laws. Chief Day's letter to the community and FAQ regarding immigration can be found here.

PPB sends out public safety announcements via our Events channel on X (formerly known as Twitter). For ongoing updates, follow our page here.

PPB will continue to monitor protest activity. While PPB's role is public safety and supporting constitutionally protected activity, part of our role is to address criminal acts. Officers may be seen in a larger group to make targeted arrests for specific crimes committed. PPB members may also investigate crimes and conduct follow-up investigations into criminal activity later and will forward cases to the Multnomah County District Attorney for prosecution when feasible. As a reminder, just because arrests are not made at the scene, when tensions are high, that does not mean that people are not being charged with crimes later. Information on PPB's Public Order teams can be found here.

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