Uninvited U.S. agents hit streets of Portland
PORTLAND, Ore. — Federal agents dressed in camouflage and tactical gear have taken to the streets of Portland, unleashing tear gas, bloodying protesters and pulling some people into unmarked vans in what Gov. Kate Brown of Oregon has called “a blatant abuse of power.”
The extraordinary use of federal force in recent days, billed as an attempt to tamp down persistent unrest and protect government property, has infuriated local leaders, who say the agents have stoked tensions.
“This is an attack on our democracy,” Mayor Ted Wheeler of Portland said.
The strife in Portland over 50 consecutive days of protests reflects the growing fault lines
in law enforcement as President Trump threatens an assertive federal role in how cities manage a wave of national unrest after George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police.
The agents in Portland are part of “rapid deployment teams” put together by the Department of Homeland Security after Trump directed federal agencies to deploy additional personnel to protect statues, monuments and federal property during the continuing unrest.
The teams — which include 2,000 officials from Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Transportation Security Administration and the Coast Guard — are supporting the Federal Protective Service, an agency that already provides security at federal properties.
Agents have been dispatched to Portland, Seattle and Washington, D.C., to guard federal property, such as the federal courthouse in Portland, according to homeland security officials.
But the response by the homeland security agents in Portland has prompted backlash over whether the federal officers are exceeding their arrest authority and violating the rights of protesters by detaining demonstrators in the area around the federal courthouse.
The agents have the authority to make arrests if they believe that a federal crime has been committed. Homeland security has pointed to dozens of possible crimes in Portland, such as the damaging of the courthouse, the spraypainting of graffiti on federal property, and the throwing of rocks and bottles at officers.
Law enforcement officials say it is rare for local police departments to request help from federal authorities — or for the federal government to deploy in a city without that consent — because of the risk of escalating an already volatile environment.
“The last people you really want are any of these federal officials,” said Gil Kerlikowske, the former commissioner of Customs and Border Protection and the former chief of the Seattle Police Department.
Billy Williams, the U.S. attorney for the District of Oregon, said in a statement Friday that he was asking the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general to investigate reports of officers detaining protesters.
The turmoil reflects issues well beyond the Portland protests.
Brown said in an interview that she asked the acting homeland security secretary, Chad Wolf, to remove federal officials from the streets and that he refused. She said the Trump administration appeared to instead be using the situation for photo ops to rally his supporters.
“They are provoking confrontation for political purposes,” Brown said.
Wolf, who arrived in Portland on Thursday, called the protesters a “violent mob” of anarchists emboldened by a lack of local enforcement.
Federal officers on the ground in Portland have deployed a range of forceful tactics: They appeared to fire lesslethal munitions from slits in the facade of the federal courthouse, one officer walked the street while swinging a burning ball emitting tear gas, and camouflaged personnel drove in unmarked vans.
Homeland security officers have been dispatched to help local law enforcement in the past, but typically if a request was made by local government or if there was a “national special security event” taking place that could be especially vulnerable to terrorism, such as the U.N. General Assembly or the Super Bowl.
Mark Morgan, the acting commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, said in a series of tweets Friday that the agents from BORTAC, the equivalent of the agency’s SWAT team, would “continue to arrest the violent criminals that are destroying federal property & injuring our agents/officers in Portland.”
The demonstrations began in the aftermath of Floyd’s death in Minneapolis, drawing thousands of people to the streets to denounce police violence and racial injustice. On some nights, protesters would blanket the Burnside Bridge, each lying face down on the pavement for 8 minutes and 46 seconds in remembrance of Floyd.
Those mass demonstrations have waned, but hundreds have continued on, clashing with police almost nightly. They have set off fireworks, lit fires and attempted to create an autonomous zone similar to one that existed in Seattle. Police officers have responded with tear gas, although a federal judge has since limited the use of that tactic, and dozens have been arrested.
Trump has vowed to “dominate” protesters and said last week that he had sent homeland security personnel to Portland because “the locals couldn’t handle it.”
One recent video appeared to show a protester, Donavan La Bella, being struck in the head by an impact munition while he was holding a sign across the street from the federal courthouse, leading to a bloody scene. His mother has told local media that he suffered skull fractures and needed surgery.
Homeland Security Acting Deputy Secretary Ken Cuccinelli said Friday on “Fox & Friends” that the federal government has a responsibility to protect buildings such as the federal courthouse.
“What we’ve seen around the country is where responsible policing is advanced, violence recedes,” Cuccinelli said. “And Portland hasn’t gotten that memo. Nor have a lot of other cities. And the president is determined to do what we can, within our jurisdiction, to help restore peace to these beleaguered cities.”