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Lawsuit Seeks Restraining Order to Stop Federal Agents Arresting Protesters in Portland
The Oregon Attorney General has filed a lawsuit against the federal government accusing him of illegally arresting protesters.
There have been nightly protests against police brutality in Portland since the murder of George Floyd.
This week, federal agents in unidentified vehicles appeared to forcibly capture protesters from the streets and detain them without justification.
The federal government has said it is trying to restore order in the city.
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 previously called the protesters a “violent mafia.”
What does the lawsuit say?
In the lawsuit, Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum requested a restraining order to prevent agents from the Department of Homeland Security, the US Marshals Service, the US Customs and Border Protection Service And the Federal Protection Service make more arrests in the city.
“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.”
His methods, he added, are “completely unnecessary and out of place in Oregon style.”
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Federal officials have been accused of seizing protesters and driving away with them in unmarked trucks.
“The federal administration has chosen Portland to use its scare tactics to prevent our residents from protesting against police brutality and supporting the Black Lives Matter movement,” he said. “All Americans should be rejected when they see this happening. If this can happen here in Portland, it can happen anywhere.”
The lawsuit itself asserts that these tactics prevent citizens, who “have a reasonable fear of being picked up and pushed in unmarked trucks, possibly by federal officials, possibly individuals opposed to the protests,” from exercising their constitutional right to First Amendment. .
It also accuses federal officials of violating the fourth and fifth amendments by seizing and detaining people without a court order, and denies them due process.
Earlier this week, Oregon Governor Kate Brown also accused federal agents of “blatant abuse of power.”
What happened?
An Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) report earlier this week contained detailed accounts of witnesses who had seen camouflaged federal law enforcement officers emerge from unmarked vehicles, grab protesters without explanation, and leave.
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 agents were sent to protect, but others were confiscated from streets away from federal properties, the Associated Press reported.
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.”
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People in Portland have been hanging banners addressed to federal officials from their balconies
“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.”
