Is
this Trump’s warm-up for November 4?
Oregon's Democratic governor and
other state lawmakers are demanding that President Donald Trump immediately
remove all federal law enforcement officials from the streets of Portland after
alarming video footage posted online late Thursday showed unidentified officers
dressed in combat fatigues arresting Black Lives Matter protesters without
explanation and throwing them into unmarked vehicles.
"This political theater from
President Trump has nothing to do with public safety," Oregon Gov. Kate
Brown said in a statement.
"The president is failing to lead this nation. Now he is deploying federal officers to patrol the streets of Portland in a blatant abuse of power by the federal government."
"The president is failing to lead this nation. Now he is deploying federal officers to patrol the streets of Portland in a blatant abuse of power by the federal government."
Brown said she told Acting
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf to "remove all federal
officers from our streets" but he refused, claiming that Portland "has been
under siege for 47 straight days by a violent mob."
Wolf's response, said Brown, shows
"he is on a mission to provoke confrontation for political purposes. He is
putting both Oregonians and local law enforcement officers in harm's way."
"This, coming from the same
President who used tear gas to clear out peaceful protesters in Washington,
D.C. to engineer a photo opportunity," she added.
Oregon Public Broadcasting reported Thursday that "federal
law enforcement officers have been using unmarked vehicles to drive around
downtown Portland and detain protesters since at least July 14."
"Personal accounts and multiple
videos posted online show the officers driving up to people, detaining
individuals with no explanation of why they are being arrested, and driving
off," OPB reported.
In response to one such video, Sen.
Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) tweeted that "authoritarian governments, not democratic
republics, send unmarked authorities after protesters."
"These Trump/Barr tactics
designed to eliminate any accountability are absolutely unacceptable in
America, and must end," Merkley added.
On Thursday night, federal law enforcement officials fired tear gas and impact munitions into crowds of demonstrators gathered in Portland to protest the police killing of George Floyd.
During protests over the weekend, a
federal agent shot a 26-year-old peaceful demonstrator in the head with a
munition, fracturing his skull.
"Federal forces shot an unarmed
protester in the face," Merkley tweeted Thursday. "These shadowy
forces have been escalating, not preventing, violence. If Wolf is coming here
to inflame the situation so Donald Trump can look like a tough guy, he should
turn around and leave our city now."
In response to the incident, Oregon
Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley joined Oregon Reps. Earl Blumenauer and
Suzanne Bonamici in demanding an full investigation and
accountability for the officer who fired the munition.
"In recent weeks, the federal
government has deployed to Portland a number of DOJ and DHS officers," the
lawmakers wrote. "This politically driven federal response is
intolerable."
Jann Carson, interim executive
director of the ACLU of Oregon, said in a statement Friday that "what is
happening now in Portland should concern everyone in the United States."
"Usually when we see people in
unmarked cars forcibly grab someone off the street we call it kidnapping,"
said Carson. "The actions of the militarized federal officers are flat-out
unconstitutional and will not go unanswered."
"Protesters in Portland have
been shot in the head, swept away in unmarked cars, and repeatedly tear gassed
by uninvited and unwelcome federal agents," Carson added. "We won't
rest until they are gone."