A US court has handed down a combined 450-year prison sentence to eight individuals convicted for their role in an anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement riot last year. The sentences, among the harshest for protest-related offences in recent memory, come as British counter-terrorism police study the American approach to dealing with civil unrest. For those in the labour movement who have watched the steady rise of protest and industrial action on this side of the Atlantic, the news will serve as a sobering warning.
The riot erupted in Portland, Oregon, in July 2020, during a demonstration against the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement policies. The eight defendants, aged between 22 and 36, were found guilty of offences including arson, assault on federal officers, and conspiracy to use explosives. Prosecutors argued they were part of an organised group that used fireworks, shields, and projectiles to attack a federal courthouse. The sentencing judge described their actions as 'domestic terrorism'. The longest individual sentence was 57 years.
Across the Atlantic, Whitehall sources confirm that officers from the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command have been in contact with US federal law enforcement to study the Portland case. The aim, according to a Home Office spokesperson, is 'to learn lessons from how the US manages high-risk protest situations, particularly where violence is directed at state infrastructure'. UK police have faced criticism in recent years for their handling of protests, from Extinction Rebellion blockades to the killing of Sarah Everard, which sparked a major demonstration. The trade union movement, which has seen a wave of strikes over pay and conditions, is watching closely.
'This is a chilling development,' said Sharon Graham, general secretary of Unite. 'We have already seen the UK government trying to criminalise peaceful picketing and workers’ right to strike. This cross-pollination with US policing tactics will only embolden that agenda.' Graham points to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, which introduced tougher penalties for disruptive protests, and the Public Order Act 2023, which gave police powers to crack down on 'locking on' and blocking roads. 'The message from Portland is clear: dissent will be met with maximum force and maximum prison time.'
But the government insists the focus is on violent disorder, not legitimate protest. A Home Office source said: 'The UK has a proud tradition of peaceful protest. But when violence, intimidation, and attacks on public servants occur, we must have the tools to respond. The US experience shows that a robust legal framework can deter the tiny minority who seek to use protests as a cover for criminality.'
The eight sentences come at a time when UK prison overcrowding is at breaking point. The justice secretary recently announced early release measures to ease the crisis. Yet the message from the US is that lengthy sentences for rioters are politically popular. For the workers and activists on the front lines of Britain’s cost of living crisis, the prospect of UK police adopting US tactics is a source of deep unease. As one union official put it: 'They’re looking across the pond for ways to silence us. We need to look at how we protect ourselves.'
