Photo by John Rudoff / Sipa USA
The Portland protests have been punctuated by horror stories of unidentified federal agents wearing military outfits snatching protesters from the streets of Oregon. The purpose of the agents’ presence and the authority under which they are operating has not been clear, other than that it serves the president’s authoritarian taste for intimidation of strongmen and their need to do something, anything to revive their hopes. reelection. Having accepted defeat in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, President Donald Trump needs a fictional enemy to shore up and train for the next few months in hopes of scaring Americans into thinking that there is a greater threat to their security and prosperity than himself. President. Shaking a wasp nest is what he’s after after Trump, and in the Portland protests, he clearly feels the opportunity to cause disorder, which he can use to devise a national response. As such, Trump said he plans to send similar federal agents to multiple American cities, all under Democratic leadership.
“I’m going to do something, that, I can tell you,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “Because we are not going to let New York and Chicago and Philadelphia and Detroit and Baltimore and all this, Oakland is a mess. We are not going to let this happen in our country. All run by liberal Democrats. ” The rhetoric dates back to Trump’s 2016 career, where he made stories about real and imagined American butchery, and claimed that, amid the mess, only he could fix it. “This is worse than anything anyone has ever seen,” Trump continued Monday. “And you know what? If Biden came in, that would be true for the country. The whole country would go to hell.” According to reports, 150 agents from ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations division are expected to be dispatched to Chicago, where, according to the New York Times, “they are expected to be in town for at least 60 days to help combat violence and would be under the direction of the Department of Justice. “
The widespread increase in blunt force in response to nothing in particular is part of a broader surge in the government’s response to sporadic protests that persist after weeks of powerful protests across the country. Further, “[t]The Department of Homeland Security has authorized its staff to collect information on protesters who threaten to harm or destroy public monuments and statues, regardless of whether they are on federal property, a significant expansion of authorities that have historically been used to protect landmarks of terrorist attacks. “The Washington Post reports.” The new guide was issued when department staff was sent to the police and detained people protesting police violence, itself a nontraditional role for a department created to secure borders. and transportation systems. “
