BREAKING: Portland Antifa extremist Robert Jacob Hoopes pleads GUILTY to brutal attack against ICE agent

On June 14, 2025, Hoopes breached the front door of the ICE facility on Macadam Avenue and threw a large rock at an ICE Special Response Team (SRT) officer's head within close range. The incident, which occurred during an hours-long siege of the building, resulted in the ICE officer sustaining serious injuries, according to an FBI affidavit. The criminal acts were captured on surveillance video.

Hoopes was captured on surveillance video gathering and throwing rocks at federal officers and the ICE facility. Photo courtesy: FBI affidavit

Photo of Hoopes throwing a rock at an ICE officer's head and the agent's injuries. Photo courtesy: FBI affidavit

Additionally, Hoopes was among a group of black-clad demonstrators who used a makeshift battering ram to strike the ICE facility's main entrance doors, causing more than $7,400 in damage to federal property. While Hoopes committed the act in "concert" with other agitators, the affidavit states that he was "leading the charge." The defendant also barricaded the facility's doors with objects and debris, according to video evidence.

Hoopes was captured on surveillance video using an upended stop sign as a makeshift "battering ram." Photo courtesy: FBI affidavit

Hoopes, a self-described "Quaker pacifist," was initially charged with both felony aggravated assault of a federal officer with a dangerous weapon and depredation of federal property in an amount exceeding $1,000, a lesser charge that was dropped as part of a plea agreement. He was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on July 25, 2025, during a raid at his home, which he shares with his Antifa-affiliated girlfriend.

The defendant was not immediately taken into custody following the attack because he had been concealing his identity during the riot, according to the affidavit, and the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) refused to respond to the scene for hours, leaving a small group of federal agents defending the facility by themselves. Due to PPB's shortcomings, federal authorities were unable to safely detain the majority of criminal agitators that day, including Hoopes, law enforcement sources told The Post Millennial.

Robert Jacob Hoopes

The FBI ultimately identified Hoopes through facial recognition software after discovering an unmasked photo of him tending to another rioter on June 14 that was published in the Oregonian, a prominent local newspaper. As a result of the facial recognition software, 30 photos were produced from various public databases, including one from Reed College, which depicted a man with a similar build and an identical tattoo to the subject.

An FBI agent conducted an interview with Reed College's community safety director, who disclosed Hoopes' identity. Reed College, a progressive institution and the defendant's alma mater, later terminated the community safety director for disclosing Hoopes' identity to the FBI, despite the public safety threat.

Federal agents used this photo of Hoopes, featured in The Oregonian, to uncover his identity through facial recognition software. Photo courtesy: FBI affidavit/The Oregonian

FBI agents captured this image of Hoopes while conducting surveillance at his Portland residence. Photo courtesy: FBI affidavit

FBI agents placed Hoopes under surveillance on July 10, 2025, and captured a photo of the defendant outside his home with an identical tattoo matching the subject's. The photo evidence gave agents the green light to obtain an arrest warrant and take Hoopes into custody. Hoopes will be sentenced on May 12, 2026, before a US District Court Judge in the US District Court for Oregon.