U. S. EXPLORED PROTEST CHARGES

The Justice Department explored whether it could pursue criminal or civil rights charges against city officials in Portland, Ore., over clashes between law enforcement and demonstrators.

WASHINGTON » The Justice Department explored whether it could pursue criminal or civil rights charges against city officials in Portland, Ore., after clashes erupted there night after night between law enforcement and demonstrators, a department spokesperson said Thursday.

The revelation that federal officials researched whether they could levy criminal or civil charges against the officials — exploring whether their rhetoric and actions may have helped spur the violence in Portland — underscores the larger Trump administration’s effort to spotlight and crack down on protest- related violence. The majority of the mass police reform demonstrations nationwide have been peaceful.

For many nights, federal officials were told that Portland police officers were explicitly told not to respond to the federal courthouse as hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside, some throwing bricks, rocks and other projectiles at officers, and not to assist federal officers who were sent to try to quell the unrest.

The department had done research on whether it could pursue the charges, spokesperson Kerri Kupec said. She declined to comment on the status or whether charges would be brought. But bringing charges against city officials for protest- related violence would likely present an uphill court battle for federal prosecutors.

Justice Department officials disputed news reports that Attorney General William Barr told prosecutors in the department’s civil rights division to explore whether they could bring charges against Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan for allowing some residents to establish a protest zone this summer.

President Donald Trump has blamed Democrats, and specifically pointed to Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, who he says have not done enough to stop nights of looting and unrest in cities across the U. S. Trump has called Wheeler a “wacky Radical Left Do Nothing Democrat Mayor” and has said the city “will never recover with a fool for a Mayor.”

Trump has tried to keep the focus on pockets of protest- related violence instead of police reform and the larger movement of racial injustice.

Noah Berger, The Associated Press A medic treats protester Lacey Wambalaba after exposure to chemicals deployed by federal officers at the U. S. courthouse in July in Portland, Ore. Federal officials researched charges against local officials over protest violence.