U.S. swoops down on Portland protesters after Trump order to protect monuments

By Deborah Bloom and Ted Hesson

 

FILE PHOTO: A protester rallies against the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in Portland, Oregon, U.S. May 31, 2020. REUTERS/Terray Sylvester/File Photo

 

PORTLAND, Ore. (Reuters) - Federal law enforcement officers are cracking down on protesters in Portland, Oregon, under the Trump administration’s new executive order to protect U.S. monuments in what the state's Democratic governor has called "political theater."

 

Multiple videos posted online show camouflage-clad officers without clear identification badges using force and unmarked vehicles to transport arrested protesters.

 

"It's kidnapping people!" one person said off-camera, as officers marched a protester away.

 

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) spokeswoman said on Friday agents had been deployed to Portland to support a newly launched U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) unit, tasked with enforcing last month's executive order from Republican President Donald Trump to protect federal monuments and buildings.

 

The spokeswoman did not provide details, saying it could jeopardize the safety of agents, but said they had been trained for operations “in chaotic environments.”

 

In addition to Border Patrol agents, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers are helping DHS’s Federal Protective Service, which provides security for federal buildings, ICE said.

 

Oregon Governor Kate Brown called it "a blatant abuse of power by the federal government,"

 

"This political theater from President Trump has nothing to do with public safety," Brown wrote on Twitter.

 

Media reports said federal agents had arrested 13 people, but there was no immediate confirmation from the authorities.

 

Portland protester Conner O'Shea said agents chased him in an unmarked vehicle Wednesday while walking with his friend Mark Pettibone back to their cars. "I know they’re looking for people that are doing graffiti and laser pointing," he said. "We haven’t done any of that, which makes it all the more scary."

 

"It’s horrifying and I think as Americans we’ve read about things like this happening in other countries, you know, in textbooks about the 70s, 80s," he said.

 

TEAR GAS

 

Demonstrators protesting against racism and police brutality have gathered around the federal courthouse daily in Portland since the killing of African American George Floyd during a May 25 arrest in Minneapolis, with crowds at times exceeding 10,000. Portland police used tear gas on the protesters, some of whom sprayed graffiti on buildings, until Governor Brown in early July banned its use except in the case of riots.

 

One video posted online shows an officer bundling a protester into a dark minivan. The CBP spokeswoman said the agency had information that person was suspected of assaults against federal agents or destruction of federal property and "a large and violent mob" moved toward the agents once they approached the suspect.

 

"For everyone’s safety, CBP agents quickly moved the suspect to a safer location for further questioning," the spokeswoman said. She said agents wore a CBP insignia during the encounter, but that their names were not displayed to protect them against retribution.

 

Another video shows an officer shoving away medics trying to aid someone. And still another showed a protester bleeding profusely from his head after federal troops allegedly shot him with a weapon firing non-lethal munition.

 

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler said the U.S. Marshals Service "will be conducting a full investigation" into the shooting.

 

A senior DHS official said officers arrested people for assaulting federal officers and vandalizing federal property, but did not provide specific cases. The official, who requested anonymity to discuss the issue, rejected the idea anyone was arrested without good cause.

 

“Federal officials don't go around arresting people for no reason,” the official said. “This isn't communist China.”

 

The U.S. Department of Justice did not respond to a request for comment on the arrests and any related charges.

 

Acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf, who visited Portland on Thursday, released a statement that included a list of incidents DHS officers had faced since late May in Portland and praised them in a series of tweets on Friday.

 

“These valiant men and women have defended our institutions of justice against violent anarchists for 48 straight days,” he wrote. He added that DHS officers had been “assaulted with lasers and frozen water bottles” and two officers had been injured.

 

Wheeler, the Portland mayor and a Democrat like Brown, said he did not meet with Wolf or the DHS delegation.

 

"We’re aware that they’re here. We wish they weren’t. We haven’t been invited to meet with them, and if we were we would decline."

 

(Reporting by Deborah Bloom in Portand Ted Hesson in Washington; Writing by Mimi Dwyer; Editing by Bill Tarrant and Tom Brown)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-07-18

 

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Thank you Mr President. Rather odd the headline photo doesn't show the destruction to the park the protesters caused. The gov and major should face charges of dereliction of duty. 

Need to understand the chain of command for these various federal police agents, and who is issuing orders? Surely that's not too much to ask?

 

The one video I saw looked suspect, i.e. unusual. A bit staged, perhaps by parties with a different agenda?

Federal government agents have been detaining people in clear breach of their First Amendment rights.

 

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/portland-george-floyd-protests-president-trump-federal-officers-1030441/

This behaviour is very much reminiscent of that of thought police forces in countries like Russia, China, and others where free thought is not allowed.

use flamethrowers to clear the streets from the hooligans,

apply freely

14 minutes ago, EVENKEEL said:

Thank you Mr President. Rather odd the headline photo doesn't show the destruction to the park the protesters caused. The gov and major should face charges of dereliction of duty. 

No trump should be censored for violating the constitution again the USA isent a police state yet

Oh the horror, you mean we can't take over public parks and destroy public property as we please. We have to follow the law.

2 minutes ago, Tug said:

No trump should be censored for violating the constitution again the USA isent a police state yet

So, it's OK for cities to be destroyed in the name of free speech.

12 minutes ago, simple1 said:

Federal government agents have been detaining people in clear breach of their First Amendment rights.

 

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/portland-george-floyd-protests-president-trump-federal-officers-1030441/

yeah ....  those vandals should be allowed to destroy public property and cause mayhem ,,, it's not fair.  lol

Donald Trump threw in the towel, fighting the pandemic, the last weekend of June 2020. He just gave up. Maybe those bone spurs acting up again.

So if you have given up doing anything about wuhan pandemic, why not create a new reality TV show in Stumptown?!  

 

The USA went over 70,000 new infections a day, this week. Arizona and Florida will run out of ICU's and hospital rooms in the coming weeks. The Ship is going down and Trump not only refuses to lead, he spends his time, creating a dog and pony show to entertain his base. New estimates have over 2 million infected and 750,000 dead by Christmas. It will soon go beyond an excrement show, into a real life disaster epic.  This is how China becomes the dominant power in the world; by default. If I wasn't watching it happen, I never would have believed it. 

 

 

 

Edited July 18, 20205 yr by LomSak27

1 minute ago, steven100 said:

yeah ....  those vandals should be allowed to destroy public property and cause mayhem ,,, it's not fair.  lol

Which of those mentioned in the report have been charged with destruction of public property / rioting?

4 minutes ago, EVENKEEL said:

Oh the horror, you mean we can't take over public parks and destroy public property as we please. We have to follow the law.

 

3 minutes ago, EVENKEEL said:

So, it's OK for cities to be destroyed in the name of free speech.

Not with plane cloths cops in unmarked vans and no cities have been destroyed that’s a gross exaggeration the USA isent a police state and won’t become one it’s just Donald distracting away from his many failures it’s all he’s got

29 minutes ago, EVENKEEL said:

Oh the horror, you mean we can't take over public parks and destroy public property as we please. We have to follow the law.

So does the Federal Govt. In this case, the law of the land as prescribed by the Constitution. Have you ever heard of that document?

4 minutes ago, cantata said:

So does the Federal Govt. In this case, the law of the land as prescribed by the Constitution. Have you ever heard of that document?

How about not vandalizing gov bldgs. It's obvious the major and gov can't control the mobs, so thank you Mr President.

28 minutes ago, EVENKEEL said:

How about not vandalizing gov bldgs. It's obvious the major and gov can't control the mobs, so thank you Mr President.

So you're contention is that it's impossible to do that without violating the Constitution?

1 hour ago, Tug said:

Spot on simple one weather you agree with the protesters or not is not the point it is the very first amendment #1 uno understand?this is another gross violation of our constitution unmarked police in unmarked vans grabbing citizens off the streets this isent Venezuela or Iran 

"protesters" 

Lighting fires

Vandalizing property

Destroying property

Assaults 

None of that is in the first amendment 

Unmarked cops in unmarked vans, arresting criminals.

This is what law enforcement officers do.

I don't see the problem.

Edited July 18, 20205 yr by uesnyc

Are they going to scoop up armed people, like these guys?

 

 

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/klamath-falls-oregon-victory-declared-over-antifa-which-never-showed-n1226681

 

 

4 minutes ago, bendejo said:

Are they going to scoop up armed people, like these guys?

 

 

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/klamath-falls-oregon-victory-declared-over-antifa-which-never-showed-n1226681

 

 

Perhaps if they break a law

Edited July 18, 20205 yr by uesnyc

23 minutes ago, uesnyc said:

"protesters" 

Lighting fires

Vandalizing property

Destroying property

Assaults 

None of that is in the first amendment 

Unmarked cops in unmarked vans, arresting criminals.

This is what law enforcement officers do.

I don't see the problem.

So against the express wishes of mayor and governor a new kind of secret service comes in, arresting people, without any accountability. And you don't have an issue with that?

1 minute ago, stevenl said:

So against the express wishes of mayor and governor a new kind of secret service comes in, arresting people, without any accountability. And you don't have an issue with that?

The crimes were committed on federal property. Mayor and governor have no say.

It's not a secret service, it was CBP/FPS/Marshals. All arrested persons were processed and held for arraignment if called for, or released if not. And whatever one might think, the cops have no obligation to yell to the crowd their name, rank and serial number. The people who were arrested know who arrested them. A representative does not have to cross the barricade, give his or her pedigree to the mob and ask for approval.

14 minutes ago, uesnyc said:

Perhaps if they break a law

Ahhhhh they are white if they were black it would be a different story and btw that’s the crux of the whole matter in a nutshell.this is also serving as donalds regular Friday night follies to try to change the news cycle 

3 minutes ago, Tug said:

Ahhhhh they are white if they were black it would be a different story and btw that’s the crux of the whole matter in a nutshell.this is also serving as donalds regular Friday night follies to try to change the news cycle 

You're 100% wrong. In Georgia, a militia of hundreds of BLACK armed people marched through the state. They violated no law, there was no interference.

Edited July 18, 20205 yr by uesnyc

13 minutes ago, stevenl said:

So against the express wishes of mayor and governor a new kind of secret service comes in, arresting people, without any accountability. And you don't have an issue with that?

If major and guvnor had done their job none of this would have been necessary. 

7 minutes ago, uesnyc said:

The crimes were committed on federal property. Mayor and governor have no say.

It's not a secret service, it was CBP/FPS/Marshals. All arrested persons were processed and held for arraignment if called for, or released if not. And whatever one might think, the cops have no obligation to yell to the crowd their name, rank and serial number. The people who were arrested know who arrested them. A representative does not have to cross the barricade, give his or her pedigree to the mob and ask for approval.

They were sweeping people of the street. As I said earlier, practices common in China, Russia and some other countries but I don't want to go there.

4 minutes ago, EVENKEEL said:

If major and guvnor had done their job none of this would have been necessary. 

If unhappy, vote them out. Isn't that what you always say about Trump criticism?

1 minute ago, stevenl said:

They were sweeping people of the street. As I said earlier, practices common in China, Russia and some other countries but I don't want to go there.

That's called an arrest. This is what law enforcement officers are paid to do.

It's done in every country in the world that has laws to enforce.

 

As an onlooker this strikes me as very similar to the methodology of suppression and  fascist  rule.

Why unidentifiable to the public  eye?

How  many days  since  legislative  reaction  to  the CCP over  Hong Kong?

Strange days!

 

9 minutes ago, uesnyc said:

That's called an arrest. This is what law enforcement officers are paid to do.

It's done in every country in the world that has laws to enforce.

 

Not against the wishes of local authorities. China is doing the same in Hong Kong though.

Some posts using offensive Nazi related comments have been removed.

 

An off topic trolling post and a reply has been removed.