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The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has agreed to pay $125,000 to a maintenance worker who went to unclog a toilet at a Residence Inn in North Portland, where he was greeted by a Border Patrol agent pointing a semi-automatic handgun at his chest.
Christopher Frison settled with Homeland Security on Jan. 9 after a federal judge ruled in August that the agency had to pay him for an assault by one of its agents.
Frison’s story, first reported by WW in 2020, took place as President Donald Trump deployed federal agents to quell Portland’s protests and riots following the murder of George Floyd. Among those deployed to Portland was a DHS agent identified in court records as Joseph Jones, who was staying in room 428 of the Residence Inn by Marriott along North Airport Way.
On July 27, 2020, Frison received a maintenance request about a clogged toilet in room 428, and headed upstairs with a plunger. A federal lawsuit filed in June of 2021 describes what happened next.
“Mr. Jones violently swung open the door, and with an aggressive look on his face, pointed a semiautomatic handgun at Mr. Frison’s chest,” the lawsuit says. “Mr. Frison put his hands in the air and prepared to be killed. Mr. Jones ultimately lowered his handgun and then invited Mr. Frison into his room. Mr. Frison declined the invitation, handed Mr. Jones the toilet plunger, and quickly left room 428.”
In an interview with WW, Frison said that he suffered from insomnia and nightmares, and struggled to return to work after the incident. He said Jones offered to apologize, but Frison declined to meet. “That man tried to shoot me, literally,” Frison said. “What did I do to this man for him to pull a gun on me?”
The case spent more than three years in U.S. District Court for Oregon. Jones denied ever pointing his gun at Frison—it was “in my right hand, straight down at my side, with my trigger finger indexed along the side,” he said—and the federal government argued he had done nothing wrong.
Jones’ testimony offered various accounts of his state of mind when he opened his hotel room door with his gun drawn. He had forgotten about submitting the maintenance request, and assumed the knock on the door was one of his teammates—but he also acknowledged “the thought had crossed my mind” that protesters might have tracked him back to his hotel.
On. Aug. 26, U.S. District Judge Adrienne Nelson determined that Jones had pointed his gun at Frison, and found the government liable for assault. Last week, the parties agreed on a number.
Spokespeople for DHS could not immediately be reached for comment. Neither could Frison. His attorney, Michael Fuller, took note that federal agents are once again operating in Portland streets.
“The DHS Standards of Conduct require federal agents to obey state laws,” Fuller said in a statement to WW. “Agents who fail to comply will be subpoenaed back to Oregon and put on trial in civil actions.”
