A man who admitted to assaulting a federal officer during a protest outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland, Oregon, last year was sentenced Thursday to 30 months in federal prison.
Robert Jacob Hoopes had previously pleaded guilty to aggravated assault of a federal employee with a dangerous weapon.
According to court documents, Hoopes threw a rock during a June 2025 protest outside the ICE facility. Prosecutors said the rock struck an ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations officer in the face and caused a significant injury.
The officer’s wound bled heavily and impaired his vision, according to prosecutors. He also needed medical care beyond basic first aid.
“Today’s message is clear — violence is not a protest,” U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon Scott Bradford said in a statement. “When you cross the line and assault a federal officer, you will be prosecuted.”
Along with the 30-month prison sentence, Hoopes was ordered to serve three years of supervised release and pay more than $8,000 in restitution.
Federal investigators identified Hoopes in part through facial recognition technology, according to earlier reporting from Fox News Digital.
Charging documents said investigators used a photo published by OregonLive.com and submitted it to commercially available facial recognition software. Federal authorities said the software produced about 30 possible matches from publicly available databases.
Investigators then reviewed those results and found a photograph on a Reed College SmugMug page titled “Canyon Day April ’23.” Prosecutors said a tattoo visible on the person’s forearm in that image matched a tattoo seen on the suspect during the June 14 protest outside the ICE facility.
Hoopes’ father, Tom Hoopes, previously told KATU that his son is a “lifelong Quaker who is deeply committed to pacifism.”
He did not deny that his son attended the protest, but declined to speak in detail about what happened there.
“What his involvement was: I can’t speak to that, but he is deeply committed to justice,” KATU quoted him as saying.
The case is one of several brought by the Justice Department against people accused of assaulting federal officers during protests connected to President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.
Portland has seen repeated clashes outside immigration facilities, with demonstrators confronting federal officers during protests over ICE operations and immigration enforcement.
Similar confrontations have also taken place in other cities. In Newark, New Jersey, demonstrations outside Delaney Hall, an immigration detention center, have led to dozens of arrests after clashes between protesters and law enforcement.
In one case, Brendan John Geier was arrested and charged after allegedly assaulting federal officers during a protest outside Delaney Hall, authorities said.
Federal officials have repeatedly argued that protesters are free to demonstrate peacefully but will face prosecution when they assault officers or damage property. Critics of aggressive enforcement actions, meanwhile, have accused the government of using a heavy hand against immigration protesters.
Hoopes’ sentencing adds to the growing list of federal cases stemming from unrest outside immigration facilities, where protests over enforcement policies have continued to draw large crowds and intense law enforcement responses.
