Use of forces alarms cities
After deployment in Portland, Chicago is next in Trump’s sights
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is using the Department of Homeland Security in unprecedented ways as he tries to bolster his law-and-order credentials by making a heavyhanded show of force in cities around the nation in the lead-up to the November elections.
His plan to deploy federal agents to Chicago and perhaps other Democratic-run cities such as Baltimore, where violence is spiking represents Trump’s latest effort to use an agency that was created after the Sept. 11 attacks to thwart terrorists to instead supplement local law enforcement in ways that bolster his reelection chances.
Trump has already deployed Homeland Security agents to Portland, Oregon, on the grounds of protecting federal buildings from protesters, drawing intense criticism from local leaders who say the federal presence has only exacerbated tensions rather than promoting public safety.
Trump's announcement seemed to come as a surprise to the Baltimore police department and Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan. A Baltimore police spokeswoman said Monday that she did not have information on additional resources being sent to the city and deferred comment to federal agencies. Hogan’s spokesman said Monday that the governor’s office has not been contacted about any federal involvement in Baltimore.
And a spokeswoman with the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s office
declined to comment.
A group of Homeland Security vans were seen outside Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore on Tuesday afternoon, but the Maryland Stadium Authority said it was regularly scheduled training.
“We had some activity today that was regularly scheduled training for Secret Service and DHS. Today's training related to canine bomb detection,” the MSA said in a statement.
A spokesman for Baltimore Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young said the city had no indication the Trump administration had moved forward any plans to send federal agents to the city.
“This is precisely the type of tyrannical deployment of power that the Founding Fathers were specifically worried about,” said Jeffrey Engel, director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University.
Throughout his presidency, Trump has leaned on Homeland Security to carry out his political objectives, including cracking down on illegal immigration and slowing legal immigration applications.
The 240,000-person agency manages border security as well as natural disasters and the Transportation Security Administration.
But with the border largely shuttered because of the coronavirus and the number of illegal crossings plummeting, Trump is now using the department to combat crime and demonstrations demanding justice and racial equality.
While the protests have largely been peaceful, Trump and his allies in conservative media have portrayed the cities as out of control as he tries to contrast himself with Democratic rival Joe Biden and make the case to voters that failing to elect him for a second term will lead to lawlessness.
Critics say the federal forces have stoked tensions, creating new images of violence that could lead frightened viewers to vote for Trump.
Homeland Security first jumped into the federal response to protests in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death during an encounter with Minneapolis police officers in May as some demonstrations erupted into sporadic violence around the country. But the effort shifted into high gear over the July Fourth weekend as Homeland Security agents and officers from at least a halfdozen components of the sprawling organization were arriving in Portland.
Protesters there have been staging nightly demonstrations since May in a section of downtown that includes the federal courthouse.
Former Homeland Security officials say they’ve seen nothing like the Portland deployment, which has included using highly trained Border Patrol agents to confront protesters outside the downtown courthouse, without the cooperation or consent of local law enforcement or government officials.
“Urban policing and crowd control and civil unrest isn’t something that is in their wheelhouse,” said Gil Kerlikowske, a former commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection under President Barack Obama. “It’s not something they are trained for.”
Arrests made by federal officers over the July Fourth weekend and several days after were for relatively minor offenses not typically prosecuted in federal court, including misdemeanor assault and disorderly conduct. Officials have accused some demonstrators of assaulting federal officers, by shining lasers in their eyes or other means, and said at least one person was detained with the ingredients for a pipe bomb.
The House Homeland and Judiciary committees have both demanded an investigation.