(Reuters) – US agents deployed to Seattle to protect federal property left the city after local officials complained that their presence was raising tensions, the mayor of Seattle said Tuesday.
A federal law enforcement officer holds peppercorns during a protest against racial inequality and police violence in Portland, Oregon, USA, July 28, 2020. REUTERS / Caitlin Ochs
American tactical forces arrived in the largest city in Washington state last week and were on standby to protect federal facilities after attacks on a federal court in Portland, Oregon.
Mayor Jenny Durkan rejected the deployment, saying she did not have the consent of local officials and that it could incite property damage that she was supposed to avoid.
He tweeted Tuesday that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told him that agents from the United States Border Patrol Tactical Unit had left Seattle. DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Durkan is among Democratic mayors who have called for an end to violence in protests against racism and police brutality after Republican President Donald Trump used images of the destruction for his reelection campaign.
United States Attorney General William Barr said Tuesday that federal agents were in Portland to arrest “protesters” who were destroying the courthouse and rejected Democrats’ suggestions to promote the campaign issue of “law and Trump’s order “before the November 3 election.
The anti-racism protests escalated over the weekend, with Seattle watching its biggest Black Lives Matter protests in weeks. A man was shot and killed at a rally in Austin, Texas, and two protesters were shot and wounded in Aurora, Colorado.
A man was arrested Tuesday in connection with the Colorado shooting. Two protest groups sued DHS on Monday for deploying agents to protect the Portland courthouse, saying it was unconstitutional for federal forces to assume functions reserved for state and local police.
Widespread and largely peaceful protests against racial bias and police brutality have taken place in the United States since May 25 when George Floyd, a black man, died under the knees of a white officer in Minneapolis.
Federal agents dispatched to Portland have used tear gas, peppercorns and stun grenades against protesters in front of a federal court, who have attempted to tear down a fence erected around them.
Barr said in a congressional hearing on Tuesday that two federal agents dispatched to Portland may have been permanently blinded by lasers used by activists and that many more agents were injured than protesters, with industrial-grade fireworks, rocks and bombs. incendiaries launched against the agents.
Reports by Gregory Scruggs in Seattle and Andrew Hay in Taos, New Mexico; Additional reports by Keith Coffman in Colorado; Bill Tarrant and Peter Cooney edition
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