Oregon Federal Attorney Billy J. Williams told The Oregonian over the weekend that Portland officials were engaged in “meaningless political theater” by prohibiting city police from working with law enforcement. and swore that the federal government would not abandon any of the federal buildings. in the city.
“Anyone who thinks we are going to give up the court, Hatfield, Pioneer (Courthouse) or any other federal facility downtown, that is not going to happen,” Williams said in the interview, according to the newspaper. “We will not leave”.
US Attorney Billy Williams said Portland, Oregon officials were participating in a “political theater” by banning local police from working with federal law enforcement in an interview with The Oregonian. (DOJ)
RIFLE AMMUNITION, MOLOTOV COCKTAILS FOUND BY PORTLAND POLICE RESPONDING TO THE SHOT
For two full months, protesters demonstrated every night in front of the United States Palace of Justice Mark O. Hatfield, trying to burn down the courthouse, destroying the building and throwing knives, and using fireworks against the federal police sent to defend building. The riots came as similar protests have erupted across the country, with the apparent aim of achieving racial justice and underfunding police departments in the wake of George Floyd’s death in late May while in the custody of the Department of Minneapolis Police.
The protests have been especially politically charged in Portland, with allegations that federal agents are making unwarranted arrests of protesters in unidentified vans. Civil rights groups have called the incidents “kidnapping”. Williams requested an investigation by the inspector general into the incidents and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said agents were identified with the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) insignia during the alleged encounters, but that their names were not on their uniforms. due to tentative attempts against officers.
Meanwhile, Democratic politicians, amid nighttime violence, have criticized the federal government for its actions and insisted that the protests are largely peaceful.
“Portland, Oregon, is not out of control,” Rep. Earl Blumenauer, a Democrat from Oregon, said on the floor of the House last week. “To be sure, there are some people who have strong feelings and others who have done things that are inappropriate and illegal. But that is the challenge of our local officials and our state officials to handle it. Not having someone inopportune, uninvited” and without Preparation comes to take this difficult situation and make it worse. “
Blumenauer then demanded the resignation of DHS secretary Chad Wolf in a tweet.
“Anyone who oversees the kidnapping of protesters and the violent occupation of American cities has no place in our government,” he said.
Protesters throw burning rubble on a fence at the United States Courthouse Mark O. Hatfield on Wednesday July 22, 2020, in Portland, Oregon. After a Grand Black Lives Matter Rally, several hundred protesters clashed with federal officials in court. (AP Photo / Noah Berger)
JUDGE DENIES OREGON’S REQUEST TO STOP FEDERAL AGENT DETENTIONS IN PORTLAND
Williams declined to comment on the alleged “kidnapping” incidents to The Oregonian, citing the inspector general’s investigation, but defended the presence of the federal police in the city, saying they will be there until “violent extremists” stop trying. enter the court. .
“Until that happens, we will do what we have to do to protect federal property,” Williams told The Oregonian. “When the violence ends, there will be no need for the presence of nighttime federal officials … It seems simple enough.”
He criticized Portland for banning its police from working with federal officials. The decision was “short-sighted,” according to the newspaper, and “doesn’t help at all.”
Protesters protect themselves with umbrellas as federal officials launch tear gas outside the United States Courthouse Mark O. Hatfield during a Black Lives Matter protest on Friday, July 24, 2020 in Portland, Oregon (AP Photo / Marcio Jose Sanchez)
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In the same interview, U.S. Marshal Russel Burger explained the reasoning behind the actions of federal officials, including the use of tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets, and more. Burger said, according to The Oregonian, less-than-lethal measures are used to maintain a “defensive posture,” and a fence used to “scale down” the scene around the court. Officers try not to leave the court unless the rioters attempt to burn down the building or tamper with the fence to get to the courthouse, Burger said, and when protesters attack the protesters, they try to disperse the rioters, “if that means pushing them into four blocks away, if that’s what it takes, that’s what they have to do. “
Williams previously said that federal officials have been “subjected to threats and nightly assaults by protesters while performing their duties.”
A federal judge last week denied a request by the Oregon attorney general to prevent federal agents from arresting people outside of court, due to the fact that the government lacked standing to sue on behalf of the protesters.
Fox News’s Adam Shaw and Louis Casiano contributed to this report.
