Six U.S. mayors urge Congress to block Trump federal deployment

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Six U.S. mayors urge Congress to block Trump federal deployment

 

Federal law enforcement officers block off a street after clearing protesters from the area during a demonstration against police violence and racial inequality in Portland, Oregon, U.S., July 27, 2020. REUTERS/Caitlin Ochs

 

(Reuters) - Six U.S. mayors, all Democrats, urged Congress on Monday to halt President Donald Trump's deployment of federal forces to their cities, saying the move has escalated tensions at anti-racism protests spreading across the country.

 

The request came on the same day the U.S. attorney for Oregon announced the arrest of 22 people on charges stemming from clashes with federal and local police at the federal courthouse in Portland.

 

Federal agents dispatched to Portland, Oregon, have drawn national attention for whisking away demonstrators in unmarked cars, beating a U.S. Navy veteran and tear-gassing activist mothers and the city's mayor.

 

"We call on Congress to pass legislation to make clear that these actions are unlawful and repugnant," the Democratic mayors of Portland, Chicago, Seattle, Albuquerque, New Mexico; Kansas City, Missouri; and Washington, D.C., wrote in a letter to the leaders of both parties in the Senate and House of Representatives.

 

The appeal followed a surge in Black Lives Matter protests over the weekend, with an escalation in violence and the appearance of white supremacists and an armed Black militia.

 

One person was shot dead at an Austin, Texas, protest on Saturday and two others were struck by gunfire at demonstration in Aurora, Colorado on Sunday.

 

In Seattle, police declared a riot and arrested 45 people during a protest over the deployment of federal agents to Portland and a standby force to Seattle. Protesters in Los Angeles clashed with officers in front of the city's federal courthouse.

 

Weekend violence in downtown Richmond was instigated by white supremacists posing as Black Lives Matter protesters, police said. A Black militia group marched through Louisville, Kentucky, on Saturday demanding justice for Breonna Taylor, a Black woman killed by police who burst into her apartment.

 

After violence in Oakland, California, during a protest on Sunday, Mayor Libby Schaaf condemned "agitators" for vandalizing the downtown and giving Trump the "images he wants" to justify sending federal agents into U.S. cities.

 

Trump has said that federal forces are necessary to restore order to cities such as Portland, saying local officials have been unable or unwilling to intervene.

 

The 22 people whose arrests were announced on Monday were charged with various federal offenses stemming from protests on July 23, 24, 25 and 26, including assaulting federal officers and harassing and stalking federal employees.

 

The U.S. Marshals Service on Monday tweeted it was lining up personnel to send to Oregon.

 

(Reporting by Andrew Hay, Nathan Layne, Lisa Lambert and Dan Whitcomb; editing by Bill Tarrant, Sonya Hepinstall and Gerry Doyle)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-07-28

 

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[4reaL]

The Feds are actually stopping the chaos.

Who needs burnt down cities or looters?

How long must these ppl be allowed to run wild?

 

[stevenl]

2 hours ago, 4reaL said:

The Feds are actually stopping the chaos.

Who needs burnt down cities or looters?

How long must these ppl be allowed to run wild?

 

According to the local authorities, who I would trust a lot more than Trump cs and anonymous tvf posters, the feds have done the opposite, only made dying down protests lively again.

[riclag]

2 hours ago, 4reaL said:

The Feds are actually stopping the chaos.

Who needs burnt down cities or looters?

How long must these ppl be allowed to run wild?

 

Until the ring leaders are all rounded up and put into federal prison's

[Boon Mee]

The Democrats are in a tizzy to do anything they can to disrupt the Trump economy so... rape, pillage and burn until November. 

 

Very sad... 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

15 hours ago, Boon Mee said:

The Democrats are in a tizzy to do anything they can to disrupt the Trump economy so... rape, pillage and burn until November. 

 

Very sad... 

 

The protests were dying down, and any lawlessness among them was minimal, until Trump started sending armed federal stormtroopers into the fray to act unlawfully and violate protesting Americans' civil rights.

 

But, that's been his intention all along -- to inflame, provoke confrontations, incite unrest. So he can appear to be the champion of law and order -- all red meat for his coronavirus addled supporters in a sad attempt to save his dying re-election prospects.

 

 

Edited July 28, 2020 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[stevenl]

48 minutes ago, timendres said:

How many black people can we count in this photo?

Why would that be important?

[ftpjtm]

In Portland Federal law enforcement was protecting a Federal court house from being destroyed by protesters. 

 

I'd say okay to an order to leave, as long as Portland is willing to fund refurbishment of any Federal property destroyed in the protests.

Edited July 28, 2020 by ftpjtm

[OneMoreFarang]

It must be difficult for Trump to find again and again new distractions from his horrible record.

It seems Covid-19 and over 4 million infected Americans does not matter to him. But a few protesters...

If I would be in America I would also be every day on the streets protesting against that idiot and all the people who still support him.

[OneMoreFarang]

3 minutes ago, ftpjtm said:

In Portland Federal law enforcement was protecting a Federal court house from being destroyed by protesters. 

 

I'd say okay to an order to leave, as long as Portland is willing to fund refurbishment of any Federal property destroyed in the protests.

Does it look to you as if the feds only protect the federal property? It seems they have a very different agenda.

[ftpjtm]

24 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Does it look to you as if the feds only protect the federal property? It seems they have a very different agenda.

My understanding is that the primary reason for Federal law enforcement in Portland is to protect the Mark O. Hatfield Federal Courthouse which has been under attack by protesters for nearly 2 months per the photos below. 

 

If a suspect is seen committing a crime on or near Federal property Federal law enforcement has authority to pursue the suspect. 

 

Since local authorities have been unable to protect State and city property, that makes sense to me. Even if it irks the protesters that they are unable to totally demolish the courthouse. 

 

 

 

Edited July 28, 2020 by ftpjtm

[brianp0803]

If the protesters were peaceful and not destroying property, then the federal government would not get involved.

 

It is interesting that more and more of the rioters are not black. They are just people who like to protest anything and everything. I wonder how many of the protesters there have a job, and how many are on welfare.

 

Things like this have happened in the past, and the governors ask the federal government for money to repair the city.

 

I have always had friends of different races, including black. Now when I see a black person, I think maybe troublemaker and a looter and a rioter, 

 

I’m not sure if people are aware of how many special benefits Black people have enjoyed for at least 40 years. Cabinet will bust them to a better school if they desire, admission to University’s with lower qualifications, admission to jobs with lower qualifications, promotions by excluding all People from consideration. 
 

My engineer and company I worked at was 90% white and Asian. Management was 70% black 20% Hispanic and 10% white. And this is a normal situation at least in California right now for the last 20 years

[OneMoreFarang]

9 minutes ago, ftpjtm said:

My understanding is that the primary reason for Federal law enforcement in Portland is to protect the Mark O. Hatfield Federal Courthouse which has been under attack by protesters for nearly 2 months per the photos below. 

 

If a suspect is seen committing a crime on or near Federal property Federal law enforcement has authority to pursue the suspect. 

 

Since local authorities have been unable to protect State and city property, that makes sense to me. Even if it irks the protesters that they are unable to totally demolish the courthouse. 

 

 

 

I understand and I also don't think protesters should do what they do.

But let's compare the scale here. I see a lot of graffiti. And then look at the federal agents. They look like they are on the way to invade Fallujah. Is that the way to "fight" graffiti?

 

[malibukid]

by sending federal law enforcement into cites Trump is trying to incite more violence in a desperate scheme to win the election since he has proven himself incapable of leading the country out of the Covid-19 crisis.  Trump is incapable of losing. he will not stop at anything and may not vacate the White House.  it may ultimately come down to the  U.S. military 

[Bluetongue]

Oh well Trump wins election, rioting, Biden wins election normal service resumed and everyone goes back to their day job? Dunno whether that will happen either. Protest's he says, just a bit of harmless graffiti is all, as the molotov cocktail explodes next to one. There's two sides at it here and Covid then Floyd was just the excuse for them to get into it. Its been brewing for 4 years, and egged on by both sides too. Surely Trump must lose, then again thats what they said before. In any case if Americans weren't so important they would be the laughing stock of the world. As it is we don't know whether to laugh or cry.

[metisdead]

A baiting post has been removed. 

[car720]

I don't understand.  Why is it black lives matter and not all lives matter.  The mother of my children is from Fiji and is black.  My children are my little chocolate drops.  Does that mean that their lives either half matter or half don't matter.  I have had 5 wives. One Italian, one Fijian, one Thai and two Chinese.  Does anyone think that i am a racist?  Either this is something particular to the American society or it is just a bunch of people who like to protest.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

1 hour ago, Isaan sailor said:

Looks like they got to the wrong protest.  Ladies, this is not Bloated Lives Matter.

 

I think the general idea was to put good sized women, Moms, in the front of the line so the federal stormtroopers would be less inclined to beat the c**p out of those protesters behind them.

 

It's really not the kind of situation where you want a 5 foot 4 inch, 100 lbs slip of a woman out there in the midst of the fray.

 

Edited July 28, 2020 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[wwest5829]

4 hours ago, timendres said:

How many black people can we count in this photo?

Because it is about more than BLM ... injustice effects all ...

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

2 minutes ago, wwest5829 said:

Because it is about more than BLM ... injustice effects all ...

 

And you don't have to be black or any other specific ethnic or racial group in order to oppose police brutality, institutional racism, discrimination, etc etc.

[jvs]

I am not American but isn't this why the second amendment was created?

To shoot at the government when they go out of control?

Interesting.

[EVENKEEL]

3 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

It must be difficult for Trump to find again and again new distractions from his horrible record.

It seems Covid-19 and over 4 million infected Americans does not matter to him. But a few protesters...

If I would be in America I would also be every day on the streets protesting against that idiot and all the people who still support him.

You mean if you were an American. That's so cute.

[Redline]

4 hours ago, timendres said:

How many black people can we count in this photo?

The whole point is made in this photo.  Black people aren’t the only ones now ????

[OneMoreFarang]

8 minutes ago, EVENKEEL said:

You mean if you were an American. That's so cute.

Good luck I am not American!

Not cute but hansom man. ???? 

[Redline]

11 minutes ago, jvs said:

I am not American but isn't this why the second amendment was created?

To shoot at the government when they go out of control?

Interesting.

That’s why conservatives said it was written-backtracking again ????

Edited July 28, 2020 by Redline

[metisdead]

A post containing a copyrighted Daily Mail photo has been removed:

 

This applies for all copyrighted pictures where posters are not owners. The replies were removed as well. 

[Tug]

5 hours ago, riclag said:

Until the ring leaders are all rounded up and put into federal prison's

Yea those scary mommies daddies and disabled vets are really scary imo bottom line donald is trying to instigate an incident so he can declare martial law to me that is shameful and a direct assault on our democracy I would suggest to the folks exercising their first amendment rights to do it away from federal buildings that puts the onus’s on the feds it’s sad that we’ve sunk so low under this administration but change is a coming we will get through it

[Morch]

8 hours ago, 4reaL said:

The Feds are actually stopping the chaos.

Who needs burnt down cities or looters?

How long must these ppl be allowed to run wild?

 

 

How do you mean "stopping the chaos"? Are things resolved where federal action was taken? Also, if federal forces' intervention is restricted to protecting federal property and such, how do they "stop the chaos" elsewhere?

 

As far as I'm aware, no city was actually burnt down.

[riclag]

3 hours ago, car720 said:

I don't understand.  Why is it black lives matter and not all lives matter.  The mother of my children is from Fiji and is black.  My children are my little chocolate drops.  Does that mean that their lives either half matter or half don't matter.  I have had 5 wives. One Italian, one Fijian, one Thai and two Chinese.  Does anyone think that i am a racist?  Either this is something particular to the American society or it is just a bunch of people who like to protest.

The far left radicals had many people believing in their cause until the mob violence started  and  the  sycophants  proudly started displaying their Marxist badges on their custom made shields ! Many far left radicals took the peace out of protesting ,who the hell brings shields, lasers  and leaf blowers,umbrellas on a sunny day,  to a protest except for thugs, hell bent on destruction!

 

1 hour ago, Tug said:

Yea those scary mommies daddies and disabled vets are really scary imo bottom line donald is trying to instigate an incident so he can declare martial law to me that is shameful and a direct assault on our democracy I would suggest to the folks exercising their first amendment rights to do it away from federal buildings that puts the onus’s on the feds it’s sad that we’ve sunk so low under this administration but change is a coming we will get through it

You just reminded me of the sign I read recently in a video on a  restaurants window, in downtown Portland !

"This is a family owned Restaurant, we've already been struggling to live(lockdown). Please don't hurt us!

 

Nothin to be scared of ,give me a break

Edited July 28, 2020 by riclag

[chilli42]

I have zero vested interest in any direction this takes.  Looking at this situation from a distance it strikes me that nobody has a solution on how to stop the unrest and move forward together.  There is a great lead for leadership at the local and Federal level.