The feds are going home! Protests break out in Portland when Seattle mayor admits he doesn’t know how many officers are being dispatched to his city
Thousands of people joined another night of protests on the streets of Portland, hours after a US judge denied the Oregon state’s request to restrict the actions of federal agents in the city.
Protesters, most wearing masks and many helmets, stood near the fountain in Salmon Street Springs, a place where groups have gathered before marching to the Hatfield Federal Courthouse and federal agents there.
They sang and clapped to the sound of thundering drums, pausing to listen to the speakers.
Various organized groups participated, including the protest by health workers, teachers against tyrants, black life advocates and the “Wall of Moms”.
Federal agents, deployed by Trump to stop the riots, have arrested dozens during nightly protests against racial injustice that often turn violent.
Democratic leaders in Oregon say federal intervention has worsened the two-month crisis and the state’s attorney general sued, alleging that some people had been taken off the streets in unmarked vehicles.
United States District Judge Michael Mosman said the state lacked standing to sue on behalf of protesters because the legal action was “highly unusual with a particular set of rules.”
Oregon was seeking a restraining order on behalf of its residents not for injuries that had already occurred, but to prevent injuries by future federal officials. That combination makes the standard for granting such a motion very narrow, and the state did not demonstrate legitimacy in the case, Mosman wrote.
The fighting in Portland has further inflamed the nation’s political tensions and unleashed a crisis beyond the limits of federal power as Trump moves to send U.S. officials to other Democrat-led cities to fight crime.
Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum’s legal action charged federal agents with arresting protesters without probable cause and using excessive force. She sought a temporary restraining order to “immediately stop federal authorities from illegally detaining Oregonians.”
David Morrell, a lawyer for the United States government, called the motion “extraordinary” and told the judge at a hearing this week that it was based solely on “some false statements” by witnesses and a video on Twitter.
Rosenblum said the ramifications of the ruling were “extremely concerning.” She added: “While I respect Judge Mosman, I would ask this question: If the state of Oregon does not have the legitimacy to avoid this unconstitutional conduct by unidentified federal agents who run over their citizens, who does?”
Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf denied that federal agents are exacerbating the situation in Portland, saying Wheeler legitimized criminality by joining the protesters, whom Trump has called “anarchists and agitators.”
The scene on the ground remains tense and the admission of Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan that she doesn’t know how many federal agents will be on the streets of her city as part of “Operation Legend” is alarming.
But, as of yesterday, the situation had clearly changed and forces were expected to enter Seattle in unspecified numbers.
Additional AP reports
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