Toronto Star

Shooting outside U.S. courthouse kills officer, injures one

- DAISY NGUYEN

OAKLAND, CALIF.— A federal law enforcemen­t officer in California was shot and killed and another wounded while providing security at the U.S. courthouse in Oakland amid one of the increasing­ly violent protests unfolding across the country.

“When someone targets a police officer or a police station with an intention to do harm and intimidate — that is an act of domestic terrorism,” Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Acting Deputy Secretary Ken Cuccinelli said at a Washington, D.C., news conference Saturday.

The Oakland shooting occurred after a vehicle pulled up outside the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building around 9:45 p.m. Friday. Someone opened fire at two contract security officers who worked for Homeland Security’s Federal Protective Service, killing one and critically wounding the other, authoritie­s said.

The officers protect federal courthouse­s as part of their regular duties. DHS officials said the two officers were monitoring the Oakland protest over the police killing of George Floyd in Minnesota.

The identities of the officers have not been released.

A suspect hasn’t been named and it wasn’t immediatel­y known whether authoritie­s have determined if the shooting was connected with the protest.

Gov. Gavin Newsom called for patience and perspectiv­e as the federal investigat­ion plays out.

“No one should rush to conflate this heinous act with the protests last night,” he said in a statement.

Federal officials said they’re seeing more threats and assaults against law enforcemen­t officers at protests and they will step up security measures to protect them.

“There are currently threats by some to attack police stations and federal buildings,” Cuccinelli said. “That violence not only won’t be tolerated, we are also committed to ensuring that it won’t succeed anywhere.”

Newsom said authoritie­s in California are closely monitoring violent extremist organizati­ons.

“In California and across the country, there are indication­s that violent actors may be attempting to use these protests for their own agendas,” he said. “To those who seek to exploit California­ns’ pain to sow chaos and destructio­n, you are not welcome.” The protest in downtown Oakland began peacefully, but spiralled into chaos late into the night. Some demonstrat­ors smashed windows, set fires and threw objects at officers. Police said 13 officers were injured.

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