Rosenblum v. John Does 1-10 et al

Filing 1

Complaint. Filing fee in the amount of $400 collected. Agency Tracking ID: AORDC-7002755 Jury Trial Requested: No. Filed by Ellen F Rosenblum against FEDERAL PROTECTIVE SERVICE, John Does 1-10, THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY, United States Customs and Border Protection Service, United States Marshals Service (Attachments: #1 Attachment Declaration or Mark Pettibone, #2 Proposed Summons United States Department of Homeland Security, #3 Proposed Summons United States Customs and Border Protection, #4 Proposed Summons United States Marshals Service, #5 Proposed Summons Federal Protective Service, #6 Civil Cover Sheet Civil Cover Sheet). (Potter, Sheila)

Case 3:20-cv-01161-HZ

Document 1

Filed 07/17/20

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ELLEN F. ROSENBLUM
Attorney General
SHEILA H. POTTER #993485
Deputy Chief Trial Counsel
STEVEN M. LIPPOLD, OSB #903239
Chief Trial Counsel
Department of Justice
100 SW Market Street
Portland, OR 97201
Telephone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]
[e-mail]
Attorneys for Plaintiff

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF OREGON

ELLEN ROSENBLUM, Oregon Attorney
General,

Case No.
COMPLAINT

Plaintiff,
v.
JOHN DOES 1-10; the UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND
SECURITY; UNITED STATES CUSTOMS
AND BORDER PROTECTION; the UNITED
STATES MARSHALS SERVICE and the
FEDERAL PROTECTIVE SERVICE,
Defendants.

Plaintiff Ellen Rosenblum, Oregon Attorney General, alleges the following facts and
claim for relief:

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COMPLAINT
SP3/db5/#10342008-v1
Department of Justice
100 SW Market Street
Portland, OR 97201
[phone] / Fax: [phone]

Case 3:20-cv-01161-HZ

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Filed 07/17/20

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PARTIES, JURISDICTION, AND VENUE
1.
Ellen Rosenblum is the Attorney General for the State of Oregon and has the power to
appear for the State of Oregon and its agencies, pursuant to ORS 180.060 and common law, and
for its citizens under the doctrine of parens patriae.
2.
On information and belief, John Does 1-10 are employed by the United States
government in a law enforcement capacity. They have made it impossible for them to be
individually identified by carrying out law enforcement actions without wearing any identifying
information, even so much as the agency that employs them.
3.
The United States Department of Homeland Security is a Cabinet-level department of the
U.S. government. Its stated missions involve anti-terrorism, border security, immigration and
customs. It was created in 2002, combining 22 different federal departments and agencies into a
single Cabinet agency.
4.
United States Customs and Border Protection is an agency within the Department of
Homeland Security. Its stated mission statement is “To safeguard America's borders thereby
protecting the public from dangerous people and materials while enhancing the Nation's global
economic competitiveness by enabling legitimate trade and travel.”
5.
The United States Marshals Service is an agency within and under the control of the
United States Department of Justice. According to a Fact Sheet on its website, “it is the
enforcement arm of the federal courts, involved in virtually every federal law enforcement
initiative.”

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COMPLAINT
SP3/db5/#10342008-v1
Department of Justice
100 SW Market Street
Portland, OR 97201
[phone] / Fax: [phone]

Case 3:20-cv-01161-HZ

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Filed 07/17/20

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6.
The Federal Protective Service is another agency within and under the control of the
Department of Homeland Security. Its stated mission on its website is “To prevent, protect,
respond to and recover from terrorism, criminal acts, and other hazards threatening the U.S.
Government’s critical infrastructure, services, and the people who provide or receive them.”
7.
This Court has subject matter jurisdiction over this case under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and
1367, and the U.S. Constitution, First, Fourth, and Fifth Amendments, and under 28 U.S.C.
§ 2201.
8.
Declaratory and injunctive relief is sought as authorized in 28 U.S.C. §§ 2201 and 2202.
9.
Venue is proper in this judicial district under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1391(b)(2) and (e)(1).
Defendants are United States agencies or officers sued in their official capacities. Plaintiff Ellen
Rosenblum is a resident of the State of Oregon, and the events giving rise to this complaint
occurred and are likely to continue occurring in the State of Oregon, within the City of Portland.
ALLEGATIONS
10.
On information and belief, federal law enforcement officers including John Does 1-10
have been using unmarked vehicles to drive around downtown Portland, detain protesters, and
place them into the officers’ unmarked vehicles, removing them from public without either
arresting them or stating the basis for an arrest, since at least Tuesday, July 14.
11.
The identity of the officers is not known, nor is their agency affiliation, according to
videos and reports that the officers in question wear military fatigues with patches simply
reading “POLICE,” with no other identifying information.
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COMPLAINT
SP3/db5/#10342008-v1
Department of Justice
100 SW Market Street
Portland, OR 97201
[phone] / Fax: [phone]

Case 3:20-cv-01161-HZ

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Filed 07/17/20

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12.
In one widely reported incident, in the early hours of Wednesday, July 15, Mark
Pettibone alleges that he was confronted by armed men dressed in camouflage who took him off
the street, pushed him into a van, and drove him through downtown until unloading him into a
building, which is believed to have been the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse.
13.
Pettibone alleges that he was put into a cell and read his Miranda rights, but was not told
why he was arrested, nor was he provided with a lawyer. He alleges that he was released without
any paperwork, citation, or record of his arrest.
14.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has been reported by the Washington Post to have
taken responsibility for pulling Mr. Pettibone off the streets of Portland and detaining him.
15.
On information and belief, unidentified federal officers including John Does 1-10 have
likewise detained other citizens off the Portland streets, without warning or explanation, without
a warrant, and without providing any way to determine who is directing this action. There is no
way of knowing, in the absence of those officers identifying themselves, whether only U.S.
Customs and Border Protection is engaging in these actions. The Marshals Service and other
Homeland Security agencies reportedly have been sent to Portland to respond to the protests
against racial inequality.
16.
Oregonians have the right to walk through downtown Portland at night, and in the early
hours of the morning.

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COMPLAINT
SP3/db5/#10342008-v1
Department of Justice
100 SW Market Street
Portland, OR 97201
[phone] / Fax: [phone]

Case 3:20-cv-01161-HZ

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Filed 07/17/20

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17.
Ordinarily, a person exercising his right to walk through the streets of Portland who is
confronted by anonymous men in military-type fatigues and ordered into an unmarked van can
reasonably assume that he is being kidnapped and is the victim of a crime.
18.
Defendants are injuring the occupants of Portland by taking away citizens’ ability to
determine whether they are being kidnapped by militia or other malfeasants dressed in
paramilitary gear (such that they may engage in self-defense to the fullest extent permitted by
law) or are being arrested (such that resisting might amount to a crime).
19.
State law enforcement officers are not being consulted or coordinated with on these
federal detentions, and could expend unnecessary resources responding to reports of an
abduction, when federal agents snatch people walking through downtown Portland without
explanation or identification.
20.
Defendants’ tactics violate the rights of all people detained without a warrant or a basis
for arrest, and violate the state’s sovereign interests in enforcing its laws and in protecting people
within its borders from kidnap and false arrest, without serving any legitimate federal law
enforcement purpose.
FIRST CLAIM FOR RELIEF
(Violation of First Amendment rights, against all defendants)
21.
The Attorney General restates and reincorporates all previous paragraphs of the
complaint.

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COMPLAINT
SP3/db5/#10342008-v1
Department of Justice
100 SW Market Street
Portland, OR 97201
[phone] / Fax: [phone]

Case 3:20-cv-01161-HZ

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Filed 07/17/20

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22.
Citizens peacefully gathering on the streets of Portland to protest racial inequality have
the right to gather and express themselves under the First Amendment to the United States
Constitution.
23.
Defendants’ actions are undertaken with the intent of discouraging lawful protest and
therefore constitute an illegal prior restraint on the First Amendment right of Oregonians to
peacefully protest racial inequality. Citizens who are reasonably afraid of being picked up and
shoved into unmarked vans—possibly by federal officers, possibly by individuals opposed to the
protests—will feel compelled to stay away, for their own personal safety, and will therefore be
unable to express themselves in the way that they have the right to do.
SECOND CLAIM FOR RELIEF
(Violation of citizens’ Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights, against all defendants)
24.
The Attorney General restates and reincorporates all previous paragraphs of the
complaint.
25.
The Fourth Amendment prohibits unreasonable seizures, and in particular prohibits
federal officials from seizing a person without a warrant or an exception to the warrant
requirement. And the State of Oregon has enacted laws that make it a crime to detain a person
without authority.
26.
On information and belief, defendants did not have a warrant to seize Pettibone or the
other citizens who have been detained, and will continue to seize individuals off the street
without a warrant, in the absence of an injunction, and no exception to the warrant requirement
justified or will justify those seizures.
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COMPLAINT
SP3/db5/#10342008-v1
Department of Justice
100 SW Market Street
Portland, OR 97201
[phone] / Fax: [phone]

Case 3:20-cv-01161-HZ

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Filed 07/17/20

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27.
Defendants’ conduct described above constitutes an unreasonable seizure of Pettibone
and the other citizens who were or will be detained.
28.
The Fifth Amendment prohibits federal officers from depriving a person of life, liberty,
or property without due process of law.
29.
On information and belief, defendants did not afford and will not afford Pettibone and the
other citizens who were or will be detained due process of law.
THIRD CLAIM FOR RELIEF
(Declaration of rights pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2201, against all defendants)
30.
The Attorney General restates and reincorporates all previous paragraphs of the
complaint.
31.
In a case of actual controversy within its jurisdiction, any court of the United States may
declare the rights and other legal relations of any interested party seeking such declaration,
whether or not further relief is or could be sought, under 28 U.S.C. § 2201.
32.
There is an actual controversy within the jurisdiction of this Court, inasmuch as one or
more federal defendants have engaged in actions endangering Oregon’s citizens and the people
walking Portland’s streets. They have prevented the Attorney General from knowing which
agencies and which officers are acting. No federal authority has agreed to stop this practice.
33.
Oregon’s citizens are at risk of kidnapping by militias and other civilian “volunteers”
taking it onto themselves to pull peaceful protesters into their cars, in a manner that resembles
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COMPLAINT
SP3/db5/#10342008-v1
Department of Justice
100 SW Market Street
Portland, OR 97201
[phone] / Fax: [phone]

Case 3:20-cv-01161-HZ

Document 1

Filed 07/17/20

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the federal actions described above. And Oregon’s own police agencies are therefore injured, by
roving federal officers confusing citizens about whether they are obligated to comply with armed
men ordering them into unmarked vans.
34.
The Attorney General is entitled to a declaration that the acts at issue are unlawful, and
an injunction precluding defendants from continuing in them.
FOURTH CLAIM FOR RELIEF
(Public nuisance, against all defendants)
35.
The Attorney General restates and reincorporates all previous paragraphs of the
complaint.
36.
The Attorney General has authority under Oregon law to sue to abate a public nuisance.
37.
Defendants’ actions described above constitute a public nuisance because they
unreasonably interfere with the general public’s right to public safety, public peace, public
comfort, and public convenience.
PRAYER FOR RELIEF
WHEREFORE, Attorney General prays for a judgment and the following relief:
1.

A declaration, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2201, that the tactics described in this
complaint violate the First Amendment rights of the State’s citizens by restraining
their ability to gather in peaceful protest, for fear of being thrown into a van by
anonymous agents;

2.

A declaration, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2201, that the tactics described in this
complaint violate the Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights of the State’s citizens –

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COMPLAINT
SP3/db5/#10342008-v1
Department of Justice
100 SW Market Street
Portland, OR 97201
[phone] / Fax: [phone]

Case 3:20-cv-01161-HZ

Document 1

Filed 07/17/20

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that it is unlawful for federal law enforcement to pull people off of the streets
without probable cause, using unmarked cars and unidentified officers;
3.

An injunction permanently restraining defendants from engaging in tactics
described above, and specifically requiring that defendants and their officers and
agents:
a) Identify themselves and their agency before detaining or arresting any person
off the streets in Oregon;
b) Explain to any person detained or arrested that the person is being detained or
arrested and explain the basis for that action;
c) Not arrest individuals without probable cause or a warrant.

4.

Such other relief as this Court may deem proper.

DATED July 17 , 2020.
Respectfully submitted,
ELLEN F. ROSENBLUM
Attorney General

s/ Sheila H. Potter
SHEILA H. POTTER #993485
Deputy Chief Trial Counsel
STEVEN M. LIPPOLD #903239
Chief Trial Counsel
Trial Attorneys
Tel [phone]
Fax [phone]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
Of Attorneys for Plaintiff

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COMPLAINT
SP3/db5/#10342008-v1
Department of Justice
100 SW Market Street
Portland, OR 97201
[phone] / Fax: [phone]