Portland hospital reroutes air ambulances amid laser pointer threat

A name to shine laser lights into the sky in an effort to disrupt federal helicopters flying over South Portland has raised severe security considerations and compelled a serious trauma hospital to reroute air ambulances.

The web flyer, posted on the homepage of Rose Metropolis Counter-Information, a self-described “anarchist counter-info platform in so-called Portland, Oregon,” encourages members to take part in a “laser tag” occasion focusing on federal plane.

The put up urges people to masks up, coordinate with others and take steps to keep away from identification — together with cleansing laser pointers with alcohol, carrying gloves and eradicating any potential DNA traces earlier than discarding.

Because of the deliberate exercise, Oregon Well being & Science College (OHSU) reported that a number of air ambulance suppliers refused to land on the hospital’s rooftop helipad Saturday night. according to KKG.

HOMELAND SECURITY RESPONDS TO PORTLAND GROUP ‘LASER TAG’ THREATS: ‘THIS IS INCREDIBLY DANGEROUS’

A protester, carrying an inflatable Capybara costume, stands outdoors the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) headquarters as police attempt to disperse the group to clear site visitors coming into the ICE constructing, throughout a protest, in south Portland, Oregon, U.S., October 6, 2025. (Carlos Barria/Reuters)

As an alternative, they redirected their helicopters to close by airports, requiring sufferers to be transferred to OHSU by floor ambulance – a course of estimated so as to add 45 to 60 minutes to journey time.

“For many sufferers, that will probably be a suitable delay. Nonetheless, for some delicate conditions, corresponding to unstable trauma sufferers, STEMIs and strokes, the delay might have actual penalties,” OHSU stated in an e-mail to KGW.

The hospital additionally suggested workers to “incorporate further transit time into their decision-making”, and strongly urged the general public to not take part within the laser occasion, calling it “extraordinarily harmful”.

OHSU later clarified that the choice to divert flights was made by the air ambulance distributors themselves, and never the hospital.

EX-CNN REPORTER DECLARES PORTLAND ‘A PILOT PROGRAM FOR NORMALIZING DOMESTIC MILITARIZATION’

A protester reacts as legislation enforcement officers deploy smoke grenades to disperse folks gathered outdoors the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) headquarters in south Portland, Oregon, October 5, 2025. (Carlos Barria/Reuters)

In a press release to Fox Information Digital, the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) emphasised that pointing lasers at plane endangers each pilots and folks on the bottom and is prohibited by state and federal legislation.

The company added that it “commonly” arrests people for focusing on police planes with lasers, together with one arrest earlier this week. Though police confirmed Saturday that they have been monitoring the ICE constructing, they stated the presence was no bigger than regular. The police additionally reported that evening that there had been no laser assaults.

The Port of Portland, which oversees common aviation within the area, acknowledged the rise in helicopter and propeller airplane exercise.

The downtown skyline glistens within the early morning waters of the Willamette River. (George Rose/Getty Photographs)

“We’re conscious of the elevated quantity of helicopter and propeller airplane exercise over South and Southwest Portland,” the port stated. “This seems to be associated to federal legislation enforcement and/or army exercise and isn’t a improvement that the Port of Portland can management.”

The Division of Homeland Safety (DHS) has additionally condemned the decision to focus on plane with lasers, warning that it’s a federal crime.

ICE DIRECTOR SAYS PORTLAND FACILITY FACED VIOLENCE WITH ‘LITTLE HELP FROM LOCAL POLICE’

“Aiming a laser pointer at an plane is a federal crime. That is extremely harmful to airline crews and to the security of the general public,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin stated in an earlier assertion to Fox Information Digital. “Antifa home terrorists WILL NOT overrun our cities. We’ll destroy their networks and convey all of them to justice.”

Federal officers cited a latest incident as proof of the dangers such actions pose. On September 30, DHS reported that 4 Mexican nationals residing illegally within the US have been arrested in Portland after allegedly shining a laser at a US Customs and Border Safety (CBP) helicopter, endangering each the crew and folks under.

Portland continues to be a flashpoint for demonstrations in opposition to federal immigration enforcement, with protests close to the ICE facility having continued for a number of weeks. In some circumstances, protesters have displayed provocative props, corresponding to a guillotine, to represent resistance to federal actions.

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Safety Kristi Noem observes the scene of ongoing protests on the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility on October 7, 2025 in Portland, Oregon. (Mathieu Lewis-Rolland/Getty Photographs)

Earlier this week, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem visited the ICE facility in Portland, the place she prayed with brokers coping with the continued unrest.

Nonetheless, Oregon Governor Tina Kotek disputed the characterizations of widespread dysfunction. “There isn’t any riot,” stated Kotek, who expressed confidence that “native legislation enforcement will seize the second.” She added that in her assembly with Noem, she reiterated Oregon’s expectation that DHS and ICE operations adjust to state legislation.

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Kotek joins a number of different Democratic governors who’ve opposed the Trump administration’s expanded federal enforcement efforts.

Fox Information Digital has contacted OHSU for remark.

Fox Information Digital’s Rachel Wolf contributed to this report.

Stepheny Value covers crime together with lacking individuals, murders and migrant crime. Ship story tricks to stepheny.value@fox.com.