PORTLAND, Oregon. Attorney General William P. Barr forcefully defended the federal response to the long-standing protests in Portland on Tuesday, and told the House Judiciary Committee that the protests had turned violent. Federal intervention has been condemned by state and municipal officials, but Barr argued that it was necessary to prevent the violence from spreading to other American cities.
The Portland night protests, which began in late May in response to the police murder of George Floyd, have become the backdrop for a conflict between federal officials and local leaders. Barr and other federal officials have drawn attention to vandalism and other reckless behavior by protesters, while city officials have said that federal agents sent to the district court in downtown Portland have exceeded their authority and harmed peaceful protesters.
There are currently 114 federal law enforcement officers in Portland, according to a legal filing from the US Attorney’s Office, drawn from various agencies, including Customs and Border Protection and the Federal Protection Service. Their presence has revitalized tensions that had been easing, local officials said. Several peaceful protesters have been seriously injured, including a Navy veteran whose hand was crushed by officers and a man who was shot with a projectile that fractured his skull.
“As I said from the beginning, these peaceful protests are being hijacked by a very tough core of instigators, violent instigators,” Barr said. “Police casualties far outweigh anything on the civilian side.”
Have protesters used violence against federal officials?
The crowds have been largely peaceful and included high school students, military veterans, off-duty lawyers, and lines of mothers calling themselves the “Wall of Moms.”
Mr. Barr acknowledged in response to the representatives’ questions that many protesters had remained peaceful. “There are many people who protest and demonstrate,” he said. “The particular violent opportunists who are involved here go into these crowds and engage in very violent activities and kidnap them.”
But he emphasized that some protesters have thrown stones, water bottles, and fireworks at federal officials. Others have targeted lasers at federal agents and security cameras surrounding the building in an effort to block their view of the crowd. Several fires have been started near the courthouse, which federal officials say could spread to the building and damage the officers inside.
This has been extensively documented with photographs, videos, and New York Times reporters on the ground.
Mr. Barr also claimed that protesters had used Tasers, pellet guns and slingshots against federal officials. The Times was unable to independently confirm the use of those weapons.
As federal agents moved beyond the courthouse and onto the streets of Portland, which experts say they have no legal authority to do so, the agents also became involved in disputes with protesters who tried to avoid arrest.
Have any federal officials been injured?
In a July 22 court filing, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Oregon said 28 federal law enforcement officers had been injured during the Portland protests.
“The most serious injury to an officer to date occurred when a protester wielding a two-pound gavel hit an officer in the head and shoulder when the officer attempted to prevent the protester from breaking down a door of the Hatfield Courthouse” declared the presentation. Other injuries included “broken bones, hearing damage, eye damage, a dislocated shoulder, sprains, strains, and bruises.”
The Department of Homeland Security said in daily reports of the protests that officers had been burned by fireworks and a “caustic substance” that was dumped on a fence surrounding the courthouse.
The legal filings and daily reports from the Department of Homeland Security make no reference to one of the injuries described by Mr. Barr: that shells fired from pellet guns “have pierced the marshals to the bone.” On July 23, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany referenced a similar incident. “Another federal agent was shot with a pellet gun, leaving a deep wound in the bone,” he said. A spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for more information about this injury.
Has there been violence against protesters?
Barr emphasized the injuries sustained by federal officials and said they outnumbered those of protesters.
There is no complete account of injured protesters, but at least five people have filed civil lawsuits that describe injuries and seek damages of up to $ 950,000. Other injuries, such as those sustained by the Navy veteran, have been captured on video.
Groups of nurses and doctors have recently joined the protests, voicing objections to the violence by federal forces. Jillian Trent, an emergency room nurse who joined a recent march, said she had seen an increase in patients with injuries caused by rubber bullets and other police munitions. “People are coming in with their mouths open,” he said.
Under questioning, Mr. Barr said tear gas and violence were not appropriate responses for peaceful protesters. In response to a question about the use of tear gas, he said: “The problem when these things sometimes happen is that it is difficult to separate people.”
Were the police officers attacked in Seattle?
Outrage at the actions of federal agents in Portland spread to Seattle over the weekend, when thousands of protesters took to the streets on Saturday against police violence and the deployment of federal agents in Portland.
Some protesters set fire to several construction trailers at a juvenile detention center, smashed business windows, and, according to police, wounded Seattle police officers with explosive devices. The Seattle Police Department released a partial video of a body camera showing erupting explosions near officers and photographs of cuts and burns sustained by officers who they said were explosives dropped by protesters.
Meanwhile, officers sprayed protesters with pepper spray, rushed into the crowds, and threw people to the ground, including some trying to help a woman who had been bloodied by a sudden grenade. A video posted online showed officers riding a bicycle against a group of protesters, shoving them to the ground with their bikes and their hands.
Police said 59 officers had been injured, including one who was hospitalized. Many of the injured officers were able to return to duty.
Kate Conger reported from Portland, Oregon, and Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs from New York.
