Federal officials were seen in a video that has since gone viral by hitting a Navy veteran with a baton and firing tear gas at him when he was unable to withdraw from federal court in Portland, Oregon, Saturday night.
Christopher David, 53, was seen standing with his arms out to his sides in front of a group of federal officials outside Mark O. Hatfield Courthouse on Saturday night. A federal officer hits him at least three times with a cane before another uses a can of pepper spray on his eyes, according to a video of the incident first shared by Portland Tribune reporter Zane Sparling.
David, dressed in a white sweatshirt with the word Navy written on it, a mask and a black backpack, walks away from federal officials and turns the middle finger around. The 11-second video clip has since been viewed more than 9.5 million times.
NEARBY PORTLAND POLICE PARKS, REMOVE BARRICADES TO AVOID THE REPETITION OF THE SEATTLE AUTONOMOUS ZONE
David, a Portland resident who served in the US Navy for more than eight years, said he took the bus downtown to join the protesters and sought out federal officials before it “stopped at the shut up in front of them and started asking them if it was okay to violate their oath of the Constitution. “
“I stood there with my hands at my sides and they started hunting whales,” he told KOIN.
“They kept hitting me with batons and I think they decided that was not going to work, so I think the two shots of pepper spray I took, and that ended,” David told the station in a telephone interview. “That was no fun, so I turned them off and walked to the corner of the park as best I could and I was losing my vision. I was walking through a giant cloud of CS gas. “
Using the name “Tazerface” on Twitter, David said his vision was temporarily impaired, but he managed to get to a park bench before a “street doctor angel” named Tav came to save him and called an ambulance. .
David has been defended as “Captain Portland” and compared to other superheroes on social media. He said he fractured his hand and may require surgery.
“All of these academy graduates are getting closer. They are playing me like Iron Man and Superman, ”David told KHON. “I am a 53-year-old overweight man who is taking blood thinners and I have a lot of physical damage from the military. Therefore, I am not made of steel at all. They could have killed me last night, as my ex-wife and daughter have reminded me 45 times this morning. ”
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On Saturday night, the Portland Police Office declared riots near federal court.
A large crowd gathered downtown, near the Justice Center and the Federal Courthouse, and people tore down fences around Chapman Square Park and Lownsdale Square Park, which had recently been installed when the parks were closed for repairs, according to the police press release.
Protesters tore down the fence and used it to create barricades around the courthouse. Federal officials stepped out to address the crowd. People also lit a bonfire in the ruins of the base of the Elk statue and other small trash cans or street fires. Occasionally, people gathered on the east side of the Justice Center and blocked the prison door and knocked on the lobby doors, according to the press release.
Police said protesters in the city had also broken into the Portland Police Association building and started a fire. The Portland police officers were in North Portland and did not respond to the court.
Local and state leaders have expressed discontent with the presence of federal agents in the city who have seen protests every day since George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis nearly two months ago. About three weeks ago, federal officials from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service, and the U.S. Department of Security’s Federal Protection Service were called National as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to “calm” civil unrest.
Speaking about CNN’s “State of the Union,” Democratic Mayor Ted Wheeler said Sunday that federal officials “are not wanted here. We have not asked them here. In fact, we want them to leave.”
The Democratic leadership in the House of Representatives said Sunday they were “alarmed” by the Trump administration’s tactics against protesters in Portland and other cities, including Washington, DC
“This is a matter of utmost urgency,” wrote Chairman of the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives, Jerrold Nadler, DN.Y., Chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, Bennie G. Thompson, D-Miss., And the chair of the Oversight and Reform Committee, Carolyn B. Maloney, DN. Y., in a letter to the inspectors general of the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security.
They Seek An Investigation “On The Use Of Federal Law Enforcement Agencies By The Attorney General And Acting Secretary Of Homeland Security To Suppress First Amendment Protected Activities In Washington, DC, Portland And Other Communities In The United States “
President Trump denounced the protests and Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf criticized the protesters as “lawless anarchists” on a visit to the city last Thursday.
“We are trying to help Portland, not hurt him,” Trump tweeted Sunday. “His leadership has lost control of the anarchists and agitators for months. They lack action. We must protect federal property, AND OUR PEOPLE. It’s not just about protesters, it’s the real deal!
Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum sued Homeland Security and the Marshals Service in federal court on Friday night. The complaint says unidentified federal agents have captured people from the streets of Portland “without warning or explanation, without a court order, and without providing any way to determine who is leading this action.”
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Rosenblum said he was seeking a temporary restraining order to “immediately stop federal authorities from illegally detaining Oregonians.”
Associated Press contributed to this report.
