Downtown jail inmates hitting panic buttons due to tear gas wafting into cells, lawyers say

Inmates at Portland’s downtown jail have complained this week about tear gas seeping into their cells, making it difficult to breathe and causing their eyes to burn.

Women housed on the eighth floor of the Multnomah County Justice Center reported waking up in the early morning hours Tuesday and Wednesday and hitting panic buttons in their cells because they were choking on the gas, according to Oregon Federal Public Defender Lisa Hay.

One woman was so worried that she tried to breathe through the crack under the cell’s door, Hay said.

Sheriff’s deputies at the jail eventually opened up food ports in cells to provide more air, according to defense lawyers.

“It’s an intolerable situation,” Hay said.

About 250 people currently are housed in the jail, on the fourth through eighth floors of the Justice Center.

Defense lawyers said they started hearing from clients Tuesday and Wednesday, complaining about the gas coming into their cells.

Hay said she complained to the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office. She said she was told that deputies “ordinarily close the ventilation.”

“I’m not sure if they forgot to close it that night or so much tear gas was fired that it’s not working,‘’ Hay said.

The complaints from inmates in the Justice Center come as federal officers are positioned at the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse on the neighboring block. Peaceful demonstrations against racial injustice and police violence have devolved nightly into confrontations with police and now in the last two weeks with federal officers sent to the city by President Donald Trump.

Portland police face restrictions on when they can use tear gas but federal officers aren’t under the same limits and have widely used gas and impact munitions to disperse crowds once some protesters set fires and lob fireworks outside the federal courthouse.

Chris Liedle, a spokesman from the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office, said adults in custody and staff started on Tuesday experiencing a “decrease in air quality” due to smoke from both fires set by demonstrators on Southwest Second Avenue and “later some effects from tear gas deployed by federal officers.”

The sheriff’s office decided on Tuesday to regularly close air dampers daily from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. to reduce the impact of the poor air quality inside the jail by a method called “return air mode,” Liedle said.

“While in 100 percent return air mode, the building’s airflow is recirculated through a two-step filtration series before reentering the space that is served. Under normal operations, air is drawn from the outside-in,” Liedle said.

He noted that air dampers were being closed when necessary before Tuesday. But since Tuesday, the county regularly closes the air dampers during the evening hours, he said.

“We care deeply for the adults in custody and have a legal and moral obligation to protect them, as well as dozens of corrections deputies and county staff that provide rehabilitation, support and health services around the clock,” Sheriff Mike Reese said in an emailed message.

“Explosions from commercial grade fireworks, smoke, bright lights, lasers and tear gas continue to have significant impacts on the adults in custody and our staff,” Reese said. “The Justice Center is much more than a police station, it is a small city with hundreds of people inside. We ask everyone to do their part to help keep those in the building safe and healthy.”

Inmates have filed medical request forms with jail staff as a result of the gas. Though Hay said she had a report that one person was taken to a hospital, Leidle said corrections health staff informed the Sheriff’s Office that no one had been medically treated for exposure.

Reports of ventilation in the jail being shut down also concerns the federal public defender at a time when the spread of the coronavirus remains a danger to inmates. “Good ventilation is critical for keeping the virus at bay,‘’ Hay said.

Defense lawyer Lisa Maxfield said her 70 year-old client is housed on the eighth floor of the jail and was awakened about 1 a.m. Tuesday by another inmate yelling “I can’t breathe!” When the 70-year-old opened her eyes, they began to sting and tear and she realized there was tear gas inside the jail, according to Maxfield.

“During the protests, the inmates have had little sleep due to the loud explosions outside,” Maxfield said. ”Whatever federal law enforcement was doing on the street was so strong that the gas made its way into the Justice Center ventilation system and gassed women as high as the eighth floor. No jail staff was on the floor to help because of the late hour.”

Hay shared two other emails that she received from defense lawyers on Wednesday:

— ”My client is housed on the 8th floor of MCDC. Last night around 1:00 am, the women on the 8th floor were awakened by an inmate yelling, “I can’t breathe!” When my client opened her eyes they began to sting and tear. She realized there was tear gas inside the jail. Whatever federal law enforcement was doing on the street was so strong that the gas made its way into the justice center ventilation system and gassed women as high as the 8th floor. No jail staff was on the floor to help because of the late hour.”

— ”My client reports that after inmates on the 8th floor woke up choking on tear gas at 1:00 am on Monday, jail staff told them they were shutting down outside ventilation and recirculating air.”

— Maxine Bernstein

Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com; 503-221-8212

Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian

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