A Portland protester who says a federal officer counted aloud before blasting her in the face with a chemical spray outside the city’s ICE building is now taking the U.S. government to court for it.
On June 5, 2026, Milla Leilani Payne filed a federal lawsuit seeking $350,000 in damages for physical pain and emotional distress. Payne, who was 19 at the time of the incident and is now 20, alleges the encounter on Oct. 2, 2025, was retaliation for protected speech rather than a legitimate crowd-control tactic. The suit names the U.S. government as the defendant and piles onto a growing stack of cases challenging how federal officers police protests at the Portland ICE facility.
According to OPB, Payne says she had been following officers' orders when a third Federal Protective Service officer stepped forward, counted aloud and sprayed an orange irritant directly into her face. Video of the incident spread widely at the time, showing her staggering away and later describing burning in her throat and chest. Payne and her attorneys argue that officers were not adequately trained to deal with protesters exercising constitutional rights, and that the spray was used to punish her speech rather than restore order.
Litigation And Court Limits
Payne’s case joins a cluster of lawsuits testing the limits of federal use-of-force tactics around the ICE building. The Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse notes that Marine veteran Daryn Herzberg filed his own excessive-force complaint in March 2026, alleging he was tackled twice by federal officers while protesting in the same area.
Judges have also started to fence in how far federal officers can go. Public docket entries show courts have placed some boundaries around crowd-control tools near the facility. A preliminary order in the case record, detailed in court documents, restricts the use of chemical and projectile munitions near the ICE building unless there is an imminent threat to safety.
Federal Response And Training
At the same time, federal officials are trying to show they hear the criticism. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told lawmakers this week that training for new federal officers will be restored to "regular standards" beginning July 1. As reported by the Associated Press, Mullin said the curriculum has been rewritten so "all training starting July 1st will be back up to the regular standards." The department links the change to concerns about expedited training during a hiring surge, even as protesters and local officials continue pressing for reforms to crowd-control policies outside the ICE facility.
Legal Implications
Payne’s complaint accuses the Federal Protective Service of failing to properly train its officers and alleges the chemical spray was deployed as punishment for her speaking out. She is asking for $350,000 in damages. The lawsuit will move through the usual federal court steps and could further shape how judges define the boundaries of federal crowd-control powers.
As OPB notes, ICE officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the filing.
The complaint was filed Friday in federal court. Payne’s attorneys say they plan to push for the identity of the officer involved and seek discovery on training records and agency policies. For now, the lawsuit adds to mounting legal pressure on federal agencies operating at the Portland ICE building and signals that more courtroom battles are likely over how far officers can go when they confront protesters on the sidewalk.
