The Trump administration will remove federal paramilitaries from Portland starting Thursday in a major change after weeks of intensifying protests and violence.
Oregon Governor Kate Brown said she agreed to withdraw in talks with Vice President Mike Pence.
Brown said state and municipal police officers will replace agents from the Department of Homeland Security to guard the federal court that has become the highlight of the protests.
“These federal officials have acted as an occupying force, rejected responsibility, and brought violence and conflict to our community,” said the governor. The head of the United States Department of Homeland Security said officers would stay close to court until they were sure the plan was working.
Donald Trump said the withdrawal will not begin until the courthouse is protected.
“We will not leave until they secure their city. We said to the governor, we said to the mayor: secure your city, ”said the president.
But the announcement is a significant withdrawal from the administration after Trump sent federal forces to Portland in early July to end the months of Black Lives Matter protests he described as having dragged the city into lawlessness.
Rather than calm the unrest, the arrival of paramilitaries fueled some of the largest protests since the daily protests following the murder of George Floyd, a black American, by a white police officer in Minneapolis in May.
The situation escalated particularly after camouflage officers were filmed snatching protesters from the streets in unmarked trucks.
Far from imposing order, the federal force, drawn from the border patrol, the immigration service and the US sheriffs, was largely trapped inside the federal courthouse that they were apparently there to protect, emerging each night to launch waves of tear gas, baton rounds, and stun grenades in street battles with protesters. But protesters retained final control of the streets.
Anger at the presence of the paramilitaries drew thousands of people every night and acted as a lightning rod for broader discontent with Trump, including for his chaotic and divisive handling of the coronavirus epidemic that has killed nearly 150,000 Americans and shows no signs of decreasing.
Although protesters will claim victory to get the demand for his nightly chant, “the feds are going home,” the protests are likely to continue the focus by returning to the Portland city police that battles had been fought with earlier. of the arrival of the federal government. agents
It is not immediately clear what impact the pullout will have on Trump’s threat to send federal forces to other cities, apparently to quell violent crimes.
Mayors in Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlanta and 11 other cities accused the president of deploying federal law enforcement officers “for political ends” amid suspicions that Trump is more interested in creating a conflict than ending it before the election.
In a letter to the White House, the mayors said they were upset by the actions of federal agents in Portland, calling their inability to use proper identification and the kidnapping of street protesters “chilling.”
“These are tactics that we expect from an authoritarian regime, not our democracy,” the letter said.
Although the arrival of federal forces revitalized the protests for racial justice in Portland, the night battles also distracted them. Tensions have been created between protesters focused on storming the court and those leading more peaceful protests for reform after Floyd’s murder.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in Portland warned that the Black Lives Matter movement was being co-opted by “privileged white people” pursuing other agendas, such as anti-capitalism. She said they were playing in Trump’s hands causing nightly clashes with federal forces.
Chris McGreal
(@ChrisMcGreal)An angry African-American man tells white protesters to stop taunting federal paramilitaries in the Portland courtroom because it distracts the #BlackLivesMatter rally. Call the behavior of white protesters “racist shit” #portlandprotests pic.twitter.com/ageHH3SoeR
July 29, 2020
On Tuesday night, Najee Gow, an African-American Black Lives Matter organizer, joined the group of a few dozen young white men taunting federal agents. She accused them of racism for being more involved in fighting in court than lobbying for racial justice.
“What are you doing? This is the racist shit we’re talking about. You don’t push a black agenda and you do this,” he yelled at the white protesters who left, but then came back.
“They want to destroy the property. They are tarnishing the Black Lives movement and making fun of Portland on the fucking world stage, ”an angry Gow told the Guardian.
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