Federal agents in Portland, Oregon, must limit their law enforcement duties to protecting federal assets and wear uniforms that identify them, Judge Andrew Napolitano, a judicial analyst at Fox News, told Tuesday “Fox & Friends ”
“The federal government can use federal assets to protect federal property,” said Napolitano.
In other words, the Department of Homeland Security can send the police to Oregon to protect a federal court in Oregon, use that as an example. “
He went on to say that the federal government cannot, however, enforce general criminal law.
“They cannot complement or replace the police,” explained Napolitano. “They can’t walk the streets and say, ‘Hey, you’re committing a crime. We are going to arrest you.
“They certainly cannot do what they have been doing in Oregon, which is to arrest people without a warrant and without probable cause, hold them for a few hours and then let them go,” he continued explaining. “Therefore, they must restrict and limit their activity to federal ownership.”
Napolitano offered the legal perspective the morning after Portland’s moms and dads marched en masse, joining downtown protesters on the 54th night of protests that then escalated overnight amid mounting tensions with the feds in the city, according to multiple reports.
Portland has experienced weeks of unrest following the death of George Floyd on May 25, and the city mayor repeatedly asked President Trump to remove federal agents sent there to disperse crowds and protect federal property.
Trump has insisted that federal troops are needed to protect government assets in the city. The city’s Democratic leadership has been criticized in its response. Daryl Turner, head of the Portland Police Association, said Sunday: “Elected officials have tolerated destruction and chaos” in the city.
State Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum claimed in court documents that masked federal agents have arrested people on the street, away from the courthouse, without probable cause, and took them in unmarked vehicles.
MAYORS OF PORTLAND, CHICAGO, ATLANTA, OTHER GREAT CITIES DEMAND THE WITHDRAWAL OF THE ‘FEDERAL FORCES’
“His law enforcement duties should be absolutely limited to the protection of federal assets, as the Constitution says, leaving the general police power in the hands of cities and states and not the federal government,” Napolitano said Tuesday. .
He also noted that federal agents “have to wear uniforms that identify them.”
“They can’t wear a uniform with a piece of tape that says ‘police.’ Why not? Because if you have an encounter with one of them, you have the right to know the name of the human being with whom you are having an encounter, ”explained Napolitano.
He added: “They cannot enter the slippery slope of gradually enforcing local law and gradually replacing the police.”
“I understand the president’s motivation and share some of it,” said Napolitano.
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“Two of these cities, Seattle and Portland, are a disaster, but they have elected political leaders who want it to be a disaster and the way to clean it up is through the political method, not through the use of federal force.”
David Aaro of Fox News and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
