You may recall that in recent months, Portland has devolved into a lawless den of Marxism, as Left-wing Democrat Mayor Ted Wheeler has fought harder to impede federal law enforcement officials (and his own cops) that where trying to stop lawbreaking rioters who, recently, even went so far as to try and burn down an elk monument because ‘Black Lives Matter’ or something.
Protests that ostensibly began in response to the George Floyd incident have long since been hijacked by Antifa, BLM, and other anarchists who have spent the past 50-plus days razing security fencing, attacking a federal courthouse, and assaulting police and federal agents.
Now, the state’s enabler Democrats, including Wheeler, both U.S. senators, and the Oregon chapter of the ACLU are waging a multi-tiered campaign not to bring some semblance of order back to Portland but to neuter and expel the only real law enforcement agents in the city.
An aggressive federal campaign to suppress unrest in Portland appears to have instead rejuvenated the city’s movement, as protesters gathered by the hundreds late Friday and into Saturday morning — the largest crowd in weeks.
Federal officers at times flooded street corridors with tear gas and shot projectiles from paintball guns, while demonstrators responded by shouting that the officers in fatigues were “terrorists” and chanting, “Whose streets? Our streets.” Protesters in Portland have gathered for more than 50 consecutive nights.
The ‘aggressive federal campaign’ isn’t just aimed at restoring order in Portland, though that city seems to have become the epicenter of unrest in these politically volatile times.
Rather, the federal agencies and law enforcement personnel dispatched there are not members of President Trump’s “secret police;” they are part of a new group established via executive order last month specifically to help protect federal property and monuments.
Federal agents in Portland (and elsewhere) are with the Protecting American Communities Task Force (PACT), acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf announced last month, following Trump’s executive order.
“DHS is answering the President’s call to use our law enforcement personnel across the country to protect our historic landmarks,” Wolf said in a statement. “We won’t stand idly by while violent anarchists and rioters seek not only to vandalize and destroy the symbols of our nation, but to disrupt law and order and sow chaos in our communities.”
In addition, a DHS news release added that the PACT will “conduct ongoing assessments of potential civil unrest or destruction and allocate resources to protect people and property.”
That includes Portland, where the Hatfield Federal Courthouse has been under assault for weeks now.
Nevertheless, Wheeler and others don’t want federal agents around; they would rather cede their city (and their authority) to the Left-wing mobs pushing for total chaos.
“I can’t recall a single instance where we have had federal, state and local officials all in alignment, saying the presence of federal troops in our city is harmful to our residents,” Wheeler told DNYUZ.
Well, they’re not troops. They’re federal law enforcement agents, and they have a right to be on federal property.
The ACLU doesn’t think so, however. The group (along with the Oregon attorney general) are suing to have federal agents neutered in Portland.
“I share the concerns of our state and local leaders – and our Oregon U.S. Senators and certain Congressional representatives – that the current escalation of fear and violence in downtown Portland is being driven by federal law enforcement tactics that are entirely unnecessary and out of character with the Oregon way. These tactics must stop,” Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum claimed.
“This is a fight to save our democracy,” said Kelly Simon, interim legal director with the ACLU of Oregon. “Under the direction of the Trump administration, federal agents are terrorizing the community, risking lives, and brutally attacking protesters demonstrating against police brutality.
About those ‘peaceful’ protests:
https://twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1284731791803285505
https://twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1284830353488830468
https://twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1284738925836357632
https://twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1284735095748820992
Sources include:
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