PORTLAND, OR — Progressive activists are expressing outrage this week after U.S. Border Patrol agents allegedly refused to be gently flattened by suspected Tren de Aragua gang members who attempted to run them over outside a federal ICE facility.

According to critics, the agents’ decision to fire their weapons while being charged by a vehicle represents a deeply troubling escalation in which federal officers prioritized “personal survival” over “community vibes.”

“This could have been handled with de-escalation,” said one protest organizer while attempting to set fire to a federal building. “At no point did the agents ask how the vehicle felt about running them over.”

Vehicle Violence Is a Valid Form of Protest, Activists Say

Witnesses say the suspects—later identified as members of a Venezuelan transnational gang designated by multiple countries as criminal—were simply engaging in what activists called kinetic migration expression.

“Cars are basically speech,” explained a local activist wearing a mask, goggles, and a $900 phone. “If someone drives aggressively toward you, that’s just their lived experience.”

Border Patrol agents reportedly responded by firing at the vehicle, an act immediately condemned on social media as “literally worse than colonialism.”

Portland Declares ICE Facility ‘Emotionally Unsafe’

Within hours, protesters attempted to storm the federal ICE facility, chanting slogans such as “No Borders, No Laws, No Consequences” and “Two Wheels Good, Law Enforcement Bad.”

City officials released a statement clarifying that while attempting vehicular homicide is “complex and nuanced,” defending yourself against it is “problematic.”

One city council member added, “We need to ask ourselves why these agents were standing where a car could hit them in the first place.”

Media Coverage Focuses on Hurt Feelings, Not Bullets

Several headlines emphasized the emotional trauma experienced by the suspects’ vehicle, while noting that the Border Patrol agents were “armed,” which experts say automatically makes them responsible for everything that happened.

A cable news panel spent 45 minutes debating whether the agents could have simply “trusted the process” and allowed the gang members to complete their maneuver.

Experts Recommend New Training

Activists are now calling for Border Patrol to undergo sensitivity training that includes:

• How to calmly absorb a car impact
• Recognizing the difference between a gang member and a “misunderstood global traveler”
• Safely dying in a way that doesn’t escalate tensions

At press time, protesters were planning another demonstration demanding the ICE facility be replaced with a community art space, a meditation garden, and a free vehicle-testing zone.