Portland Mayor Blasts Trump for Sending in Armed Feds to Round Up Rioters
'Keep your troops in your own buildings, or have them leave our city'
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Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler is not happy with federal agents in his city who are currently rounding up far-left rioters and Antifa members.
“Keep your troops in your own buildings, or have them leave our city,” Wheeler told President Donald Trump.
"This is part of the core media strategy out of Trump’s White House: to use federal troops to bolster his sagging polling data.
"And it is an absolute abuse of federal law enforcement officials.”
The Democrat mayor's remarks come amid criticisms that the militarized law enforcement personnel refused to identify themselves.
But unlike police, the military deployed to remove terrorist organizations, by law do not have to identify themselves or read rights to people being taken off the streets.
WATCH:
Authoritarian governments, not democratic republics, send unmarked authorities after protesters. These Trump/Barr tactics designed to eliminate any accountability are absolutely unacceptable in America, and must end. pic.twitter.com/PE4YfZ9Vqd
— Senator Jeff Merkley (@SenJeffMerkley) July 16, 2020
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Meanwhile, the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the U.S. Marshals Service for allegedly violating the rights of legal observers and journalists.
Portland Police Chief Chuck Lovell said federal agents are in contact with police officers but do not control each other.
“We do communicate with federal officers for the purpose of situational awareness and deconfliction,” Lovell said.
“We’re operating in a very, very close proximity to one another," he added.
"So it’s important for us to know if they’re going to take some type of action and it’s important for them to know if we’re going to take some type of action.”
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"The city of Portland has been under siege for 47 straight days by a violent mob while local political leaders refuse to restore order to protect their city,” Acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf said in a statement this week.
"Each night, lawless anarchists destroy and desecrate property, including the federal courthouse, and attack the brave law enforcement officers protecting it.”
On Friday, Armed federal police began rounding up suspected rioters by picking off suspects and taking them away in unmarked vehicles.
Trump last month promised to “quell” the violence if city officials failed to take action.
In a recent video, armed feds can be seen pulling over next to protesters, and whisking them away in minivans.
Take these terrorists off the streets and disappear them for months. Oh if only. pic.twitter.com/NYW7qKCXSw
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) July 15, 2020
"Federal law enforcement officers have been using unmarked vehicles to drive around downtown Portland and detain protesters since at least July 14,” Oregon Public Broadcasting reported on Thursday night.
