More than 25 federal agents coming to Milwaukee
Operation Legend focus to be violence, homicide
More than 25 federal agents will be coming to Milwaukee as part of Operation Legend, a program aimed at addressing violent crime, Matthew D. Krueger, U.S. attorney for Wisconsin’s Eastern District, said Wednesday.
Agents from the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and U.S. Marshals Service will join work that’s already underway by existing federal, state and local task forces, Krueger said.
Ten of the federal agents will be assigned to work in Milwaukee temporarily to provide “immediate assistance” and the others will be assigned over the next year to provide long-term assistance, he said.
The earlier announcement that federal agents would be coming to the city caught elected leaders in Wisconsin by surprise and raised concerns about the agents’ purpose — and whether their mission could morph into the kind of response to civil unrest that has been criticized in Portland, Oregon.
Milwaukee leaders have also said they were concerned about the agents’ presence in Milwaukee during next month’s Democratic National Convention, which is expected to draw protesters despite having gone mostly virtual.
Krueger has said the federal officials coming to Milwaukee will focus on violent crime, illegal gun cases and slowing the city’s rising homicide rate — not responding to protests or civil unrest.
The mission of Operation Legend, he said, would not shift to the DNC or the kind of response seen in Portland.
It is not aimed at protests or civil disturbances and “differs entirely”
from the mission of protecting federal property in Portland, he said.
“You will not see federal agents amassing on Milwaukee’s streets,” he said.
Operation Legend is also not about “flooding” certain neighborhoods of the city or increasing arrests, but rather targeting specific people whose actions are endangering the community, Krueger said.
“Operation Legend should not be confused with protest activity. Our focus is going to be on addressing violent crime in the Milwaukee area,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert Hughes said.
But Milwaukee’s police chief, Alfonso Morales, said in an interview with the Journal Sentinel later Wednesday that he may need federal help during the DNC because of an emerging problem: police agencies pulling out of agreements to send officers to Milwaukee during the convention.
Morales, who wasn’t part of Wednesday’s news conference on the federal operation, said those outside officers may need to be replaced by federal agents or National Guard members. Morales didn’t specifically say he would want Operation Legend agents diverted
“Even if it’s scaled down … we still have to secure the city,” said Morales, who had envisioned more than 1,000 officers from outside the city assisting with the convention.
Morales has been put under intense scrutiny after the city’s oversight agency, the Fire and Police Commission, issued 18 directives with corresponding deadlines to him, including ending the use of chemical irritants during civil unrest.
Several of the law enforcement agencies that have withdrawn from the DNC cited the order to stop the use of chemical irritants, saying it could compromise the safety of citizens and officers.
On Wednesday, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said on Twitter federal agents would be withdrawn from Portland, adding that, “They have acted as an occupying force.”
Brown said Oregon State Police officers would “protect Oregonians’ right to free speech and keep the peace” downtown.
Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad F. Wolf said in a statement that he and Brown had agreed to a plan to “end the violent activity in Portland directed at federal properties and streets.”
He also tweeted Wednesday that “federal law enforcement will remain in Portland until the violent activity toward our federal facilities ends. We are not removing any law enforcement while our facilities and law enforcement remain under attack.”
Leaders at the local, state and federal levels should be working together right now, Krueger said, to stop gun violence in Milwaukee. He said Operation Legend will bring needed resources to the effort.
On Tuesday, a group of Wisconsin Democratic leaders called for answers about the Trump administration’s plans to send the federal agents. Their questions included how long the agents are expected to be in Milwaukee, which agencies would be sending agents, whether contractors would be used and who will supervise the agents.
Milwaukee County Sheriff Earnell Lucas said he and Krueger had been in constant communication in recent days so he could get a better understanding of Operation Legend.
“We have seen over the past several weeks disturbances around the country and the insertion of forces from the United States government that have led to a lot of chaos and concern,” Lucas said. “When it was made known that some authorities would be coming here to Milwaukee, it was a cause for concern, and I, like many, started wanting answers.”
Lucas said he wouldn’t have taken part in the news conference if Operation Legend were not to going to happen as Krueger has described.
“We as a community have got to put an end to this madness or this madness will put an end to us,” Lucas said of violent crimes in Milwaukee.
Asked where communication between federal and local officials broke down in the initial announcement of Operation Legend, Krueger said the news last week that Operation Legend would be coming to Milwaukee “got out ahead of things, which then resulted in a lot of concern.”
He also said media stories led to confusion.
The U.S. Department of Justice’s Operation Legend recently brought more than 200 federal officers into Kansas City after a 4-year-old boy was shot and killed.
Operation Legend is a renamed continuation of the existing initiative Operation Relentless Pursuit, which was announced by Attorney General William Barr late last year and then announced in Milwaukee in May.
Operation Relentless Pursuit’s first phase was from January to April this year with a focus on arresting “violent fugitives” and the second phase planned for the spring was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Krueger said.
Krueger said Operation Legend in Milwaukee will be supported by $1.9 million in addition to $10.2 million that will go the Milwaukee, Wauwatosa and Cudahy police departments to allow them to hire 29 officers so the departments can assign their experienced officers to task forces. The funding is from the U.S. Department of Justice.
U.S. Attorney’s Office spokesman Kenneth B. Gales declined to say how many of those 29 officer positions would be assigned to each of the three departments.
U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., said Wednesday she had been “very concerned” about reports that agents would be sent to Milwaukee because the announcement came around the same time as images of clashes in Portland. But, she said, Krueger clarified the mission and its constraints for her in a phone call.
“I’m glad that there has been some clarification and we want to keep apprised very frequently on what that mission is looking like,” she said.
Baldwin also criticized Barr and the Trump administration for not communicating with state and congressional elected leaders.
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said Wednesday that there has been an “interplay” of presidential politics in which President Donald Trump has “very irresponsibly placed federal agents in cities like Portland.”
But, Barrett said, the plan in Milwaukee is an outgrowth of the city’s collaboration with the U.S. Department of Justice to address violent crime.
“It’s very, very unfortunate that the president’s irresponsible dialogue on this has created so much distrust,” Barrett said, adding that he and other Wisconsin elected officials will make sure the federal agents will not be used “to make us another Portland.”
Milwaukee Common Council President Cavalier Johnson said if Operation Legend is a continuation of longstanding partnership to solve crimes he was okay with it but “if it were to deteriorate into what we’re seeing out west, then that is completely and totally unacceptable to me.”
He said he had been assured by Krueger and Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm that the programs in Portland and Milwaukee were different. And he referenced Chisholm’s pledge earlier this week to prosecute federal agents who break law.
Elliot Hughes and Lawrence Andrea of the Journal Sentinel contributed to this story.