PORTLAND, Oregon. David Harris had no idea that he was going to be hit with tear gas.
He attended Tuesday night protests in front of federal court and fell asleep next to a tree when he woke up early the next morning due to chaos.
“I couldn’t see,” he said. “I ran with my eyes closed, tears and snot running down my face. I was suffocating while sleeping.
By Wednesday afternoon, Harris returned to the same location where his terrible experience unfolded just hours earlier.
“I want peace,” he yelled. “No bombs, no gas, no violence!”
For much of July, Department of Homeland Security forces have deployed tear gas in a crowd of protesters outside the United States Palace of Justice Mark O. Hatfield. Under President Donald Trump’s push to “dominate” protesters, officers fired projectiles into the crowd, arrested protesters, and even destroyed medical and food supplies.
Residents and local leaders have accused federal officials of acting beyond the scope of federal property protection and of using “state police tactics” against protesters indiscriminately. The Oregon attorney general has filed for a temporary restraining order against federal forces in Portland and is awaiting a decision by a federal judge.
Justice Department Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz said Thursday that his office will investigate the conduct of federal agents in Portland due to concerns from members of Congress and the public. The investigation will look at allegations of use of force and whether the officers followed the guidelines of the Department of Justice, including compliance with the requirements to provide proper identification and deploy chemical agents.
“If circumstances warrant, the OIG will consider including other issues that may arise during the course of the review,” Horowitz said in a statement.
The move comes after a group of Oregon Democratic lawmakers, including Sen. Jeff Merkley, Sen. Ron Wyden, Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, and Rep. Earl Blumenauer, sent a joint letter to the Justice Department requesting a review of the intervention. federal in Portland.
“Trump’s tactics will not be tolerated,” Merkley said in a statement.
The president said more Democrat-led cities, such as New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit and Baltimore, could see similar federal law enforcement efforts.
Portland protesters first met in late May to denounce police brutality following George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis, but protesters have changed focus in recent weeks and are now calling on federal forces to vacate the city. .
Shortly before Harris woke up with a face full of tear gas early Wednesday morning, federal officials swept the park where protesters gather outside the United States court. According to witnesses, officers cut water bottles and pepper-sprayed food supplies. They also destroyed barbecue grills and first aid kits that had been donated by community members, witnesses said.
DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.
“This should not be happening, especially when we are trying to feed each other,” said one volunteer, who asked not to be identified for fear of being targeted by the police. “All it does is destroy. It hurt.”
Hours after the protest camp was cleared, donations were flooded. Campers received 13 new grills for Wednesday night, dozens of pizza deliveries, and hundreds of bottles of water. First aid supplies were replenished and new tents were erected to replace damaged ones.
The tear gas that spread through the streets of downtown Portland on Wednesday hit parents, protesters and even Mayor Ted Wheeler.
Shortly before midnight, the Portland police declared riots and repeatedly warned protesters to leave or risk using force or arresting them. But they did not move. Most signs hoisted or chanted instead. Only a handful of people near the barricade continued to shake the fence or fireworks at the federal building.
Police drove SUVs marked by the site, issuing warnings through a loudspeaker. Meanwhile, federal officials used tear gas and shells to expel protesters from the steel barricade that the federal court protects.
Wheeler had been standing in front of the group when he was suddenly engulfed in a cloud of tear gas. Early in the evening, he attempted to address the protesters, but was mocked and mocked repeatedly. They yelled at him, asking for his resignation and asking him to leave.
A resident asked him what could be done to rid Portland of federal officials.
“I think what we will do tonight is the best we can do right now: be here, be united and be clear,” he said. “We didn’t want them. We don’t ask for them … and we want them to leave. “
Shortly after being hit with tear gas, Wheeler called the tactic “abhorrent.”
“Tear gas is … indiscriminate,” he said. “It makes me wonder a lot if this is a really viable tool. I want to see other options. This is not a good option. “
Wheeler, who also serves as the Portland Police Commissioner, has come under fire for allowing local law enforcement to use tear gas against citizens when the protests began. A temporary restraining order currently prohibits police from using it, but residents are concerned about what will happen when the order expires.
“We have heard all of this before,” said Tuck Woodstock, a Portland-based journalist who has been recounting the riots. “This has created a cycle in which, to some extent, all the protests refer to the night before because people go out protesting police brutality and then experience more brutality.”
