Homeland chief rips mayor of Portland

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf on Monday condemned Portland’s mayor for claiming that the Trump administration’s deployment of federal agents to the city is sparking an escalation in violence.

“I believe it’s a completely irresponsible comment,” Wolf said on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends.”

“The facts don’t lie, and the facts are that these violent anarchists and extremists were violent well before DHS surged federal assets into Portland,” he said about the unrest in Oregon’s largest city that has been continuing for 54 days as of Monday.

“DHS is not going to back down from our responsibilities. We are not escalating, we are protecting . . . federal facilities,” Wolf said.

Over the weekend, groups of protesters broke into the Portland Police Association building and set it on fire and clashed with the camouflage wearing federal officials.

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler said city officials never asked for President Trump’s help and he wants the agents out, claiming they represent a “blatant abuse of police tactics by the federal government” and “a direct threat to our democracy.”

“The president has a complete misunderstanding of cause and effect,” Wheeler, a Democrat, said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

“What’s happening here is we have dozens, if not hundreds, of federal troops descending upon our city, and what they’re doing is they are sharply escalating the situation. Their presence here is actually leading to more violence.”