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How it all started?
Since a police officer smothered George Floyd, an African American detainee, on May 25 in Minneapolis, there have been nightly protests in Portland, Oregon’s largest city.
VIDEO: Events that have stimulated the Black Lives Matter movement: strong incidents of black violence
What do federal agents do?
In mid-July, Trump ordered the deployment of federal agents in Portland to quell the protests near the city’s federal court and other buildings.
Defenders and lawmakers were outraged by reports that federal agents driving unmarked cars stopped protesters on the streets without explanation. The identities of the agents detaining the protesters are also unclear.
These officers do not belong to the police force, but to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Marshal’s Office, Customs and Border Protection. Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum said she will file a lawsuit in federal court against these agencies for violating the rights of the state’s residents.
Despite criticism, Trump announced last week that he would send more federal agents to Chicago and other major cities to help combat the alleged escalation of gun violence.
In an interview with Fox News, Trump said he could deploy up to 75,000 people in US cities. Federal agents
Is the deployment of agents legal?
The Washington Post provides the following explanation: If the federal government provides additional forces to protect federal property or arrest those who commit federal crimes, then the deployment of federal agents is perfectly legal.
AFP / Scanpix Photo / Protesters in Portland
However, if a large number of federal agents are deployed away from federal property and the circumstances show no evidence of federal crime, even if local crime is widespread, then such deployment may be illegal.
Congress may have constitutional power to authorize such actions, but this has not been done.
Did the protesters use violence?
The protests that start each night are mostly peaceful, in line with the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement (quiet. “Black life is important”). Demonstrations are taking place in the District Justice Center and in the Prison, which is next to the federal court.
Since most protesters go home at night, some go to court. Some attempted to break windows, blocked the building’s entrance, and burned bonfires. Protesters tore down the fence surrounding the court several times, then built steel barricades reinforced with concrete blocks. Protesters tried to “push” the barrier by burning small bonfires and firing fireworks.
A small number of protesters, wearing helmets and gas masks, show up every night and try to provoke conflict, criticized by some BLM leaders. However, the recent decline in support for the protests has increased again with the deployment of federal agents, writes The Guardian.
One of the groups of protesters are mothers who sing lullabies and form live barricades in protests, called the “wall of mothers.”
Reuters / Scanpix Photo / Protesting mothers in Portland
In Portland, clashes broke out between federal agents and protesters: The latter responded with tear gas by throwing water bottles and fireworks.
What the critics say
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler said the deployment of federal agents only “greatly intensifies” the situation, saying that no one in the city has asked or wants. “We really want them to go,” Wheeler said.
US Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon said that “the violent tactics of Donald Trump and his paramilitary forces against protesters are like a fascist regime, not a democratic nation.”
Renowned journalist and historian Anne Applebaum wrote that by deploying federal agents, Trump was demonstrating the “performative authoritarianism” created by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
ZUMAPRESS.com/ Protesters in Portland
Several groups of protesters brought the Trump administration to court for what they said was a “violent and intimidating response to nightly protests against systemic racism and police brutality.”
SEE ALSO: What institutional racism are protesters talking about in the United States?
Why is Trump doing this?
Less than a hundred days before the presidential elections, Trump lags behind Democratic rival Joe Biden in polls, so you can try to activate your database in this way. Trump portrays protests incited by anarchists, whom Democrats fear to oppose.
Trump presents himself as a “candidate for law and order”: he hopes frightened voters on the streets of chaos will see him as a guarantor of security.
Former President of the United States, Richard Nixon, followed similar tactics. When there was a great racial riot in the United States in 1967, he went to the polls as a middle-class candidate who wanted order and was forgotten.
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