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President Trump has called federal agents amid ongoing protests
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown charged US federal agents in unmarked cars that apparently detained protesters in Portland for “gross abuse of power.”
Federal officials, deployed by President Donald Trump, have also fired tear gas and less deadly ammunition at a crowd of protesters.
Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf called the protesters a “violent mafia.”
Activists have been protesting against police brutality since the murder of George Floyd in police custody on May 25.
On Friday night local time, Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum said the state justice department was filing a lawsuit against the federal government for the arrest of protesters “without probable cause.”
“These tactics must stop,” Rosenblum said in a statement. “Not only do they make it impossible for people to assert their First Amendment rights to protest peacefully, but they also create a more volatile situation on our streets.”
What happened?
An Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) report contained detailed accounts of witnesses who had seen federal law enforcement officers dressed in camouflage emerge from unmarked vehicles, grab protesters without explanation and walk away.
The past week there has been a violent escalation between protesters and federal agents, deployed two weeks ago by Trump to calm civil unrest.
Since at least July 14, the OPB reports, federal agents have been jumping from unmarked vehicles across the city and grabbing protesters apparently without cause.
The video reviewed by the announcer shows a protester, Mark Pettibone, describing how on July 15, he was “basically thrown” into a van containing people armed with bulletproof vests.
Pettibone said he was taken to a cell in federal court, where his arrest rights were read to him. After he refused to answer questions, he was released without an arrest record or appointment.
According to the OPB, federal officials have charged at least 13 people with crimes related to the protests so far.
Some have been detained around federal court that officers were sent to protect, but others were kidnapped on streets away from federal properties, the Associated Press reports.
What has the Trump administration said?
Arriving in town on Thursday to meet with the federal police, the acting secretary of national security defended officers against the assembled “anarchists.”
In a statement of nearly 1,700 words, Wolf blamed state and municipal authorities for not “restoring order.” He said his response had “emboldened the violent mafia as violence increases day after day.”
“The city of Portland has been under siege for 47 days straight,” he wrote.
“Every night, violent anarchists destroy and desecrate property, including the federal court, and attack the brave law enforcement officers who protect it.”
Wolf’s comments echo those of Trump. This week, the President applauded the efforts of federal agents in Portland, saying the officers had done a “great job.”
“Portland was totally out of control, and they got in, and I think we have a lot of people in jail right now,” he said at a news conference on Monday. “We suppress it a lot, and if it starts again, we will retain it very easily.”
What is the reaction?
The Oregon Democratic governor accused the president of using harsh tactics to earn political points.
Arresting people without probable cause, Brown spokesman Charles Boyle said Friday, “extraordinarily troubling and a violation of his civil liberties and constitutional rights.”
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and other local officials have said they did not request assistance from federal agents and asked them to leave.
“Keep your troops in your own buildings, or have them leave our city,” Wheeler said Friday.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) also condemned the actions reported by the agents.
“Usually when we see people in unmarked cars forcibly grab someone from the street, we call it kidnapping,” the organization wrote on Twitter. “These actions are unconstitutional and will not go unanswered.”
Meanwhile, the most powerful Democrat-elect, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi accused the Republican President of deploying “stormtroopers.”
Who are the federal agents?
The United States Office of Customs and Border Protection (CBP), a law enforcement agency within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), confirmed that he was responsible for at least one of the arrests.
The agency told the Daily Caller that it had reason to believe that the person had assaulted officers in the protests and smashed federal property, so his agents “promptly moved the suspect to a safer place to ask more questions.”
“Violent anarchists have organized events in Portland for the past few weeks with the deliberate intention of damaging and destroying federal property, as well as injuring federal agents and agents,” a CBP spokesperson told the US media. “These criminal actions will not be tolerated.”
Nation magazine reports that the CPB cited its authority under the American Communities Protection Task Force (Pact).
DHS established the pact last month in response to Trump’s executive order to protect American memorials, which called for heavy sanctions on anyone who damaged a monument.
