Let’s investigate what federal agents are really doing in Portland, Ore.

Accusations serious, but are they true?

“Authoritarian governments, not democratic republics, send unmarked authorities after protesters.”—Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon)

“Federal agents are terrorizing the community, threatening lives, and relentlessly attacking protesters demonstrating against police brutality. This is not law and order. This is lawlessness— and it must be stopped.”—ACLU

“Unidentified stormtroopers. Unmarked cars. Kidnapping protesters and causing severe injuries in response to graffiti. These are not the actions of a democratic republic.”—Nancy Pelosi

IF FEDERAL agents wearing no insignia are patrolling Portland, Ore., upstaging the local and state police there, grabbing people off the streets and disappearing them into oblivion, then the federal government has taken a mighty and disturbing step, if not leap, and We the People have a problem.

If.

Unfortunately, too many Americans get their news from Twitter and Facebook and talk radio and the opinion segments on nightly cable shows. We get our news from newspapers, mostly. And after all the hyperbole last weekend, we looked to reports from The Washington Post, USA Today and, admittedly, the Internet news site of the BBC. And, for the record, we trusted our eyes, too, because several of these accounts came with video.

Unidentified? The “stormtroopers” in Portland wore POLICE signs on the fronts and backs of their uniforms, and insignia of the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol on their arms. The agency said it didn’t allow its police to wear name tags because its people have been targeted with something called Doxing, which is what happens when your name (and address) are put on the Internet for nefarious purposes.

“The names of the agents were not displayed due to recent doxing incidents against law enforcement personnel who serve and protect our country,” the agency said in a statement. We should note that some local officers have put tape over their name tags, too, during several protests around the country. This is not a rare thing—and cops know it.

A link provided by USA Today to the lawfareblog.com asks whether law enforcement officers must identify themselves. The answer: It’s complicated. The writers say federal officers often only identify themselves as, well, federal officers. Whether you agree or disagree with this policy, it’s been the policy for many years—long before the current fever in America.

Unmarked cars? That’s standard practice in almost every big law enforcement agency.

Kidnapping? According to the report in The Washington Post, officials with Customs said they were questioning a suspect one night last week when a mob approached. They quickly moved him to a different location for further questioning. Then released him. Sri Lanka, this is not.

Authoritarian? Lawlessness? An unwarranted invasion of a state? CBP says it was protecting federal property, which is its job. (It should be noted that there have been “nightly protests” against police brutality in Portland since May, according to the BBC.)

The acting leader of Customs and Border Patrol said at a news conference Tuesday that peaceful protesters are one thing, but violent protests aren’t welcome around the federal courthouse in Portland. “We will continue to take the appropriate action to protect our facilities and our law enforcement officers.” He added that CBP will leave when the violence around the courthouse stops.

The president of the United States says he’ll send in more forces into more cities to protect federal property. Whether that’s a good idea, a part of his job, or whether that will spark more clashes with locals and lead to further violence and injury and perhaps worse, is a debate Americans can have immediately. And should. Before things spiral out of control.

But let’s get the facts straight while we debate this. Calling federal officers stormtroopers and accusing them of kidnapping—or darkly insinuating that their Standard Operating Procedures have taken an evil twist—isn’t the place to start.

Come, let us reason together.