Background: Protesters outside an ICE facility in Portland, Ore., that are causing “constant” noise, according to resident Cloud Elvengrail, who lives nearby and is suing (KGW/YouTube). Inset: Cloud Elvengrail (X).
An Oregon woman living near a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland has filed a lawsuit over the “constant” noise that”s been allegedly coming from late night protests against ICE and the Trump administration, saying it’s “akin to a torture chamber” — causing one of her ears to bleed, according to her lawyer.
“It’s shrill, and bells, and whistles, and air raid siren sounds,” attorney Julie Parrish told local Fox affiliate KPTV about the ICE demonstrations outside Cloud Elvengrail’s apartment building in Portland’s South Waterfront neighborhood.
The ICE building being targeted, located at 4310 S. Macadam Ave., has been bombarded by near-nightly protests related to immigration and deportation efforts by the Department of Homeland Security, which have sparked similar demonstrations across the country.
Video footage captured earlier this month and posted online by The Post Millennial shows Elvengrail getting into shouting matches with protesters and threatening legal action.
“We the people need sleep, motherf—ers!” she can be heard shouting in one clip. “You’re worse than ICE, terrorizing us every night,” Elvengrail says. “Go f— yourself!”
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According to the Post Millennial, the demonstrators increased their noise disturbance efforts immediately after Elvengrail began complaining that night. The group reportedly used a makeshift Long Range Acoustic Device that night and on other occasions to blast music at the ICE office around 1 a.m., per the local outlet.
“I am living in constant pain,” Elvengrail told local NBC affiliate KGW in a statement. “My ears are ringing, the sound is so loud it made my left ear bleed, and there is no peace or quiet because the sound weapons they’re using day and night are killing us,” she said. “And we’re trapped with no escape. It’s got to stop. Those of us in the building with PTSD are destroyed by this noise.”
Elvengrail filed her complaint against Portland last week and asked a judge to order the city to enforce noise ordinances, saying their lawsuit is one that tells city officials “to do your job,” according to KPTV.
In an email to a local community leader cited in the lawsuit, Elvengrail claims she is experiencing hearing loss in both ears due to the protest noise. “My left ear has begun bleeding,” she said.
Elvengrail’s suit alleges that “because she cannot afford to move otherwise, [Elvengrail] remains trapped” in her residence.
“[The apartment] is more akin to torture chamber than home,” Elvengrail’s suit blasts.
“Relator’s residence has no air conditioning,” it alleges. “To find relief from the heat of her residence, relator is forced to open windows. The contradictory choice Relator is being forced to make. Whether to try to cool her residence by opening window, or keeping her windows shut to try to drown out some of the noise and keep noxious fumes out of her residence, has created a life safety issue for relator.”
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At least one neighbor in Elvengrail’s building, Tim Paulk, has come out in support of her claims and tells KPTV “there are a lot of people” allegedly living outside the ICE facility and apartment building, using megaphones and air horns to purposely disturb the peace as a form of protest against the Trump administration.
“I’ve tried to talk to people, and they just start screaming at me,” Paulk alleged. “It’s super aggressive and inconsiderate of the neighborhood.”
Parrish says the demonstrations have created a “life safety issue” for her client, the other people who live in her building and those commuting or working nearby. They have requested an expedited hearing to have the case heard as soon as possible.
“She’s not saying that people shouldn’t stand out there and wave their signs and supportive honks every now and then coming through — that’s not what this is,” Parrish told KGW. “She wants the weaponized noise to stop. She wants the city of Portland to come and do their job.”
City officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment by Law&Crime on Sunday.
