Don't Shoot Portland v. Oregon Department of Justice

The ACLU of Oregon and Don’t Shoot Portland petitioned the Oregon Attorney General to review the Oregon Department of Justice (ODOJ)'s refusal to disclose public records relating to the Oregon TITAN Fusion Center (OTFC).

The court in Farrell-Smith et. al. v. Oregon Department of Justice et al. concluded that people suing the Attorney General for operating OTFC without lawful authority have a green light to pursue their lawsuit.

ODOJ sends a few additional records that it says should have been included in its response to the original December 12, 2024 records request.

ODOJ shares final logs to complete the May 22, 2026 supplemental request.

ODOJ shares a further partial response to the May 22, 2026 supplemental request and says it anticipates completing the log on or before August 7, 2026.

ODOJ responds to the May 22, 2026 supplemental request with a partial response. ODOJ states they are working to create logs of all records withheld pursuant to the third agency rule including the date, title, and originating agency of the records. ODOJ states that it did not ask any of the originating agencies to reconsider whether documents could be released in connection with the ACLU of Oregon’s original request.

ODOJ makes partial production responsive to ACLU of Oregon’s email from May 12, 2026 (relating to specifically identified people and organizations). In that communication, ODOJ reports that it is withholding 29 additional records pursuant to ORS 192.355(4) and OAR 137-090-0040. ODOJ states that this production completes its response to the December 12, 2024 records request.

The ACLU of Oregon submits a second follow-up records request concerning ODOJ’s asserted third agency rule withholdings to see if they followed the process laid out in their own rule and to identify the originating agency of each withheld record.

The ACLU of Oregon asks ODOJ to provide more information about records withheld concerning Don’t Shoot Portland, Teressa Raiford, Black Gallery PDX, Sean Kealiher, and the ACLU of Oregon.

ODOJ releases additional records, redacting some information “under ORS 192.345(22) (interference with property or services), ORS 192.345(23) (security measures), ORS 192.355(1) (internal advisory communications), ORS 192.355(4) (information submitted in confidence), and the Third Agency Rule, OAR 137-090-0040.” The records do not indicate which claimed exemptions apply to which redactions.

ODOJ says it needs an additional 30 days to complete its review, due to staff availability, but that it would make rolling productions as records were cleared for disclosure.

ODOJ produces more records, but still only provides another partial response.

ODOJ says that limited staff availability required an extension to March 13.

ODOJ indicates it needs until February 20 to complete the request.

ODOJ sends a partial response and states that it would complete its production by February 6.

ODOJ produces another partial response.

ODOJ says it is still working through the review and would only be making a partial response.

ODOJ reports that it would be making the production on October 20.

ODOJ responds that the review is “almost done.”

The ACLU of Oregon checks in again on the status of the request.

ODOJ estimates that it would take another 6 - 8 weeks to complete its review and response.

The ACLU of Oregon checks in on the status of the request.

ODOJ confirms receiving payment for the records and states it will begin review.

ODOJ reports that the narrowed request returned 6,362 records and estimates production will cost the ACLU Oregon $3,392. However, ODOJ states it would be producing “far fewer” than the total number of records due to a significant number of records being exempt because, “they consist of information reported by other law enforcement agencies, which the fusion center is required to keep confidential.” The ACLU of Oregon agrees to submit payment.

ODOJ discloses some records in an initial partial response including TITAN Fusion Center’s privacy policy, training materials, and other information. In the email, ODOJ states that it “anticipate[s]” many of the documents the ACLU and Don't Shoot PDX would be "most interested in" would likely be exempt pursuant to ORS 192.355(4) and the “Third Agency Rule” and that, “the public interest in operating a functional fusion center would suffer if it violated the so-called “third agency rule” and disclosed the reports.”

The ACLU of Oregon agrees to begin with a more narrow set of responsive records concerning “Don’t Shoot Portland,” “Don’t Shoot PDX,” “Black Gallery PDX,” “Teressa Raiford,” “Sean Kealiher,” and “ACLU of Oregon” and records including the terms “Black identity extremist,” “Black identity extremism movement,” “domestic terrorism,” and “environmental violent extremism.”

ODOJ and the ACLU of Oregon meet to discuss the scope of the request. The ACLU of Oregon urges that they would still like to move forward with the request.

ODOJ proposes to meet with the ACLU of Oregon legal team to, “to clarify certain portions of your public records request, explain what the ODOJ’s TITAN Fusion Center does, and why we will not have all responsive records you are seeking.”

ODOJ informs the ACLU of Oregon that the request is still under review.

ODOJ acknowledges receipt of the records request and says it will conduct a search and respond as soon as practicable.

The ACLU of Oregon in partnership with Don’t Shoot Portland submits a public records request to the Oregon Department of Justice to identify how the Oregon TITAN Fusion Center monitors and collects information on people engaged in protest activity and/or associate protest with “terrorism,” and to obtain records concerning Don’t Shoot Portland, Don’t Shoot PDX, Black Gallery PDX, Teressa Raiford, Sean Kealiher, and ACLU of Oregon.