Armed federal agents on city streets
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has deployed agents with tactical gear to confront protesters and rioters in downtown Portland, Oregon. That has sparked debate over the use of federal power as local and state officials, and many in the community, condemn their tactics and demand they leave. Far from backing down, the administration plans to send agents to Chicago to respond to civil unrest and gang violence. And President Donald Trump says federal agents could be deployed elsewhere as he makes law and order a central element in his struggling reelection campaign. Some of the issues behind his use of federal forces:
What’s been going on in Portland?
Protests, which started over the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis but have since evolved in scope to include anarchists with other grievances, have taken place in downtown Portland for more than 50 consecutive days, drawing at times thousands of peaceful demonstrators, but also a number of activists and demonstrators have vandalized downtown buildings, including the federal courthouse, and attacked police and federal agents and innocent bystanders.
Trump issued an executive order June 26 to protect monuments and federal property after protesters tried to remove or destroy statues of people that some considered racist, including a failed attempt to pull down one of Andrew Jackson near the White House. The Department of Homeland Security dispatched agents to Portland as well as Seattle and Washington, D.C., starting around the Fourth of July weekend.
Why the Department of Homeland Security?
DHS, which was formed after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to improve the nation’s response to the threat of international terrorism, oversees some of the largest U.S. law enforcement agencies. That includes the Border Patrol as well as Immigration Customs and Enforcement. DHS also oversees the Federal Protective Service, which guards federal buildings along with the U.S. Marshals Service. DHS sent members of the Border Patrol, along with Secret Service officers, Air Marshals and others, to Portland to protect the downtown courthouse complex.
What happened after federal forces arrived?
Federal officers and protesters clashed in the streets outside the federal courthouse. Violent demonstrators broke windows and did other damage, hurled rocks at the officers and shined lasers in their eyes. Agents have fired tear gas to disperse demonstrators and arrested about 43 people since July 4. Tensions escalated after an officer with the Marshals Service fired a less-lethal round at a protester’s head on July 11, critically injuring him. They ratcheted up further when agents in unmarked vehicles arrested people at night without identifying themselves.
DHS officials defended the arrests Tuesday, saying they were carried out lawfully and intended to protect officers from violent crowds. They also noted it is routine to use unmarked vehicles. But some mistakenly thought the U.S. had created a new, secret police force, and it drew lawsuits as well as more protesters into the streets.
Is it legal for federal forces to be used like this?
Yes, to a certain extent. Federal authorities can enforce federal laws on federal property, like the courthouse in downtown Portland. But state and local officials allege that the federal agents have operated beyond their jurisdiction, and that has raised constitutional issues now being challenged in court. As Michael Dorf, a professional of constitutional law at Cornell University, told The Associated Press, “The idea that there’s a threat to a federal courthouse and the federal authorities are going to swoop in and do whatever they want to do without any cooperation and coordination with state and local authorities is extraordinary outside the context of a civil war.”
What can be expected to happen next?
The Oregon attorney general filed a lawsuit Friday arguing that the federal government had violated the rights of citizens of the state by detaining people without probable cause. The American Civil Liberties Union has also sued, seeking to stop the federal government’s use of rubber bullets, tear gas and acoustic weapons against journalists and other legal observers. These and other legal actions could force the federal agents to change tactics or perhaps downsize their mission in the city.
Acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf at a news conference Tuesday urged state and local authorities in Portland to work with the federal government to stop the violence directed at federal personnel and property. He also sought to draw a sharp distinction between people demonstrating against police brutality and those attacking the courthouse.
“If you’re looking to peacefully protest in Portland, the department respects your right to do so,” he said.