House of Representatives Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith, a Democrat from Washington, went after President Trump for his actions in Portland, Oregon, comparing his deployment of federal law enforcement officers to the “military personnel” of the president to quell the protests. He told Fox News in an interview that this was not the intention when the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was created after September 11.
“The only concern I have is and this is a concern shared by the Secretary of Defense, he has expressed it, the DHS people who showed up in Portland, and apparently are being distributed to other cities, were also wearing camouflage uniforms, To the eye inexperienced as they walked the streets of Portland, they looked like American soldiers, I think that’s very misleading, Smith said.
Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf told reporters at a news conference this week that he was viewing inaccurate reports in the media that these federal agents were the US military and reiterated that they are not.
“Let me repeat, the officers are not military, let’s not confuse that,” Wolf said.
According to the Department of Justice, there are currently 114 federal law enforcement officers with the FPS, ICE, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the US Marshals Service who protect federal facilities in downtown Portland. Earlier this week, President Trump announced that the Justice Department would take similar measures in the cities of Chicago and Albuquerque, taking advantage of existing resources in those cities to calm tensions and protect federal property, where in some cases authorities claim that violence has erupted during protests
But Smith doesn’t think unilateral measures like this are helpful without the cooperation of state and local leaders, and said it could make matters worse.
PORTLAND OFFICIALS WANT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO REMOVE THE FENCE
“You have this image of federal forces coming in, that is not going to calm people, that is not going to make people think that they are living in a just society that no longer has to protest, it is going to make people think once more that the government is trying to unfairly silence them, heightens tensions, “Smith said.
Democratic leaders have increased rhetoric when referring to these federal agents. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi referred to them as stormtroopers, and House Majority Representative Whip Jim Clyburn compared them to the Gestapo police force of Nazi Germany.
Smith ignored the high rhetoric saying, “I choose my own words, I am not going to go into what I disagree with or whatever one of the hundreds of people has said, I want to get to the right policy.”
It is a policy that even some former heads of the Department of Homeland Security are condemning. Tom Ridge and Michael Chertofff, both under Republican President George W. Bush, when the cabinet agency was in its early days, criticized the move to send federal agents to American cities. Ridge likened it to the president’s own “personal militia”.
Smith agreed.
“The President then turned to Bill Barr and the Department of Justice to use DHS as his own military personnel and that was not the intention of creating DHS … if the President misuses the Department of Homeland Security of this way, pressure from the public [will] make it dissolve and put us back where we were before 9/11. “
MAYOR OF PORTLAND FULL OF TEARS BY FEDERAL AGENTS
The Justice Department inspector general announced in a statement this week that he would be reviewing the actions taken by federal law enforcement agencies in Portland in the past two months along with the cleanup of Lafayette Square in front of the White House, in the Trump walked to a nearby church and posed for photographs with a Bible after law enforcement officers in riot gear used tear gas and rubber bullets to clear peaceful protesters.
“The review will include examination of the training and instruction provided to DOJ law enforcement personnel; compliance with applicable identification requirements, participation rules, and legal authorities; and compliance with DOJ policies. regarding the use of less lethal munitions, chemical agents and other uses of force, “said Inspector General Michael Horowitz in his statement.
Smith is confident in the investigation, but fears it may interfere.
“I have no confidence that this president will allow a fair investigation to take place … he has fired inspectors general everywhere [the] government.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
