Photos: Civil unrest in Portland after George Floyd's death
Officials filed lawsuits against the treatment of protesters by federal agents.
The city of Portland, Oregon, in the wake of the police-involved death of George Floyd, has endured several weeks of protests that have escalated to violent clashes with law enforcement officials,
Around the country and oversees, public demonstrations have been focused on ending police brutality and systemic racism, as well as the removal of controversial historic statues.
The protests have been predominantly led by local chapters of Black Lives Matter that chant the rallying cry of "I can't breathe" and the names of dozens of Black men and women killed by mostly white police officers. Those words were uttered by Eric Garner in July 2014 and Floyd on May 25 -- two Black men whose deaths while in police custody were recorded on cellphone videos and went viral.
Protests in Portland started off peacefully on May 29, with hundreds gathered neared the Hatfield Courthouse. Federal officials recorded three incidents of vandalism on the building that day.
The protests continued over the following weeks as reports of graffiti popped up on other courthouses and more federal buildings were damaged.
Federal agents with the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Marshals Service and U.S. Customs and Border Protection were deployed into the city around July 4 at the orders of President Donald Trump, but the protesters' call for change did not stop.
Tear gas, rubber bullets and other crowd-control devices were usedon the demonstrators.
A protester, Mark Pettibone, said he was walking down the street on July 16 when an unmarked car with "undercover federal agents wearing generic green military fatigues forcibly detained" him. The arrest, filmed by a bystander, was viewed millions of times on Twitter.
Pettibone was released from custody that same day.
Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum and lawyers with the American Civil Liberties Union have separately filed civil lawsuits against the federal agencies to prevent them from removing journalists or legal observers from protest areas.
In Rosenblum's lawsuit, she highlighted at least two incidents of alleged unlawful actions, including one currently under criminal investigation and Pettibone's detainment.
Portland's Mayor Ted Wheeler has demanded that federal agents leave the city.
"It is clearly ratcheting up the violence and the vandalism. Local and state law enforcement can handle this, and we need you to leave right now before somebody dies," Wheeler told ABC News in an interview.
Wheeler was among six mayors from across the country who signed a letter demanding the federal government remove agents from their cities.
More than two dozen women created what they called a Wall of Moms barrier between protesters and federal officers.
The women, who wore face masks and helmets for safety, chanted, "Feds steer clear, moms are here," as they linked arms to form the barrier.
In response to the ACLU's lawsuit, Judge Michael Simon granted a temporary restraining order on July 23 barring federal agents from arresting or forcibly removing journalists or legal observers from a protest without having probable cause that a crime was committed.
"This order is a victory for the rule of law," said Jann Carson, interim executive director of the ACLU of Oregon. "Federal agents from Trump's Departments of Homeland Security and Justice are terrorizing the community, threatening lives, and relentlessly attacking journalists and legal observers documenting protests. These are the actions of a tyrant, and they have no place anywhere in America."
However, the judge's order expires in 14 days and does not prevent officers from using "crowd-control devices" in areas where orders to disperse a crowd are authorized, according to the judge's decision.
"We are working to make sure that this unconstitutional nightmare ends in Portland, and is not replicated anywhere else," said Vera Eidelman, a staff attorney with the ACLU's Speech, Privacy and Technology Project.
Nonetheless, the Department of Justice announced on Friday that before the judge's order, it has arrested 18 people on a range of charges that included the assault of federal officers, arson and damaging government property.
Those arrested were released from custody pending jury trials or other court appearances, officials said.
ABC News' Kayna Whitworth and Quinn Owen contributed to this report.
