Fed agents urged to leave Portland
Local officials decry Trump’s sending militarized agents to curb unrest
PORTLAND, ORE. >> Federal agents dressed in camouflage and tactical gear have taken to the streets of Portland in unmarked vans, seizing and detaining protesters and unleashing tear gas in what Gov. Kate Brown of Oregon has called “a blatant abuse of power.”
Since their arrival with the goal of tamping down persistent unrest, federal officers have shot one protester in the head with an apparent impact munition, leaving the man with severe head injuries and producing the image of blood dripping on Portland’s streets.
One of the people detained, Mark Pettibone, said in an interview that an unmarked vehicle stopped right in front of him around 2 a.m. Wednesday, and four people in camouflage jumped out. Given the lack of markings
or identification, he had no idea who they were.
“One of the officers said, ‘It’s OK; it’s OK,’ and just grabbed me and threw me into the van. Another officer pulled my beanie down, so I couldn’t see,” Pettibone said.
Pettibone said he was terrified and that at no point was he told why he was arrested or detained or what agency the officers were with. He said he was ultimately held for about two hours before being released.
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, who is also police commissioner, demanded Friday that President Donald Trump remove militarized federal agents he deployed to the city after some detained people on streets far from federal property they were sent to protect.
“Keep your troops in your own buildings, or have them leave our city,” Wheeler said at a news conference.
The Multnomah County sheriff, Mike Reese, called the federal response a “significant setback” in efforts to calm tensions.
Brown said Trump is looking for a confrontation in the hopes of winning political points elsewhere and to serve as a distraction from the coronavirus pandemic, which is causing spiking numbers of infections in Oregon and the nation.
Brown’s spokesman, Charles Boyle, said Friday that arresting people without probable cause is “extraordinarily concerning and a violation of their civil liberties and constitutional rights.”
On Thursday night and into Friday morning — the 50th straight day of demonstrations — a line of federal officers in gas masks
walked down Portland’s Third Avenue. They filled downtown corridors with tear gas, which a federal judge has barred Portland police from using except in the case of a safety risk, and they also shot less-lethal munitions, which left people limping in pain.
The aggressive federal posture has complicated the mission of the Department of Homeland Security, an agency that has spent much of its history focused on foreign terrorism threats and is supposed to build collaborative relationships with local law enforcement partners. And it raises questions of whether it is appropriate for federal authorities to take up the policing of a U.S. city against the wishes of local leaders.
Brown called it a “blatant abuse of power by the federal government.”
But federal officials, starting with Trump, have continued to stake a claim
to the city’s law and order. The acting Homeland Security secretary, Chad Wolf, arrived in the city Thursday, calling the protesters a “violent mob” of anarchists emboldened by a lack of local enforcement.
Portland’s protests began in the aftermath of George 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 laying 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 up Interstate 5 in Seattle.
The persistent unrest has frustrated city leaders, including Wheeler, who has often been a target of the ire. Some Black leaders in the community have also expressed disappointment, suggesting that the predominantly white protest crowd was seizing an opportunity and detracting from the vital efforts needed to reform policing.
City leaders have tried a variety of tactics to calm the tensions. Wheeler has pleaded for calm. The city’s police chief resigned, to be replaced with Chuck Lovell, who is Black. City commissioners have moved to cut some $16 million from the police budget.
But the protests have continued.
Trump has taken an aggressive posture against demonstrations, vowing at one point to “dominate” protesters and mobilize federal agencies to operate in cities. Trump said last week
that he had sent Homeland Security personnel to Portland because “the locals couldn’t handle it.”
“It’s a pretty wild group, but you have it in very good control,” he told Wolf.
The next day, video appeared to show one protester, Donavan La Bella, holding a sign across the street from the federal courthouse, being struck in the head by an impact munition, leading to a bloody scene on the street. His mother has told local media that he suffered skull fractures and needed surgery.
Members of Congress from Oregon have called for an investigation, and the U.S. attorney for the District of Oregon, Billy Williams, said it had been referred to the U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General for further investigation.