FIX EXCLUSIVES
College alumnus allegedly hit ICE officer with a rock during violent protest in June
Reed College’s director of community safety is under internal investigation for helping the FBI locate a recent graduate who allegedly threw a rock at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer, according to an open letter from its president to the campus community.
The private Portland, Oregon college’s actions have raised questions about student privacy as well as the college’s actions against its safety officer.
Gary Granger is still listed as the community safety director on the college’s website. However, an email that The Fix sent to Granger on Friday was returned with an automated response stating he is “currently out of the office.”
The college’s President Audrey Bilger announced an investigation into Granger’s actions after he gave information to the FBI “apparently without a subpoena or warrant,” according to her July 29 statement.
“Reed has established protocols and values, and we are initiating an investigation into this action and its impact on our standards and our community,” Bilger wrote. “Reed prioritizes the privacy and rights of our students, faculty, staff, alumni, and all members of our community.”
She also wrote she understands concerns voiced by students and alumni about the incident, and “the college is treating this matter with the seriousness it warrants. Reed maintains clear policies and provides regular training to ensure that information is managed responsibly and in alignment with legal requirements and institutional values.”
The college’s public affairs office refused to comment when The Fix asked in an Aug. 4 email about Granger’s employment status and the investigation. The Fix also asked if it has a policy on providing information to law enforcement, and if it has dealt with similar situations in the past.
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The incident involved Reed alumnus Robert Jacob Hoopes, 24, of Portland, who was arrested on July 25 and charged with “aggravated assault of a federal officer with a dangerous weapon” and “depredation of federal property in an amount exceeding $1,000,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon stated in a recent news release.
Hoopes allegedly threw a rock at an ICE officer during a June 14 protest outside an ICE detention center in Portland, causing an “approximately 2-inch gash” over the officer’s eye, according to a July 28 criminal complaint filed by an FBI special agent.
The affidavit alleged that the suspect not only threw the rock, but also used a sign’s metal pole as a “makeshift battering ram” against the ICE facility’s door during the protest.
An FBI agent “positively identified” Hoopes, a 2023 graduate of Reed College, as the suspect through a set of binoculars at an address the college’s director of community safety provided upon request, according to the affidavit.
However, Patrick Eddington, a senior fellow in homeland security and civil liberties for the Cato Institute, told The Fix that it is not clear that Granger did anything wrong. Eddington served as a military imagery analyst at the CIA under three presidential administrations.
“If Granger gave the FBI data on Hoopes that was in a Reed College alumni directory or similar publication that was fairly readily available, I tend to doubt that either Granger or the college would be in violation of Oregon’s Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act,” Eddington, told The Fix in an Aug. 4 email.
“As a matter of current law, anything that’s publicly available would not require the FBI to obtain a warrant for it … there’s a ton of data that firms like ThompsonReuters and other data brokers have that’s available for purchase, including by law enforcement organizations,” he said.
Regarding student privacy rights, Eddington told The Fix, “if you’re a student, anything you publicly post is fair game for law enforcement and can be potentially used against you.”
“If you want to engage in coordinated protest activity, use genuinely secure means like the Signal app or encrypted email services like Proton,” the former CIA analyst said.
Hoopes pled not guilty to the felony charges, and Judge Youlee Yim You released him from custody with an ankle monitor until his next hearing, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported.
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IMAGE CAPTION AND CREDIT: A suspect, identified by the U.S. Attorney’s Office as Reed College alumnus Robert Jacob Hoopes, 24, of Portland, allegedly throws a rock at an ICE building; U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon
