LOCAL POLICE SHOULD BE ORDERED TO ARREST BARR'S BULLY BOYS PUT THEM BACK IN PRISON
WHERE THEY CAME FROM
Issued on: 22/07/2020
US federal law enforcement officers, deployed under the Trump administration's new executive order to protect federal monuments and buildings, face off with protesters against racial inequality and police violence in Portland, Oregon, on July 21, 2020. © Caitlin Ochs, Reuters
The mayors of New York City and Chicago said on Tuesday they would take President Donald Trump to court if he sent unidentified U.S. government agents to police their cities, pushing back on a threat that has sparked widespread controversy over the use of federal force.
But Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot also said she would accept an influx of FBI agents and other identified law enforcement officials from the Trump administration, an acknowledgement of the scale of gun violence and other crimes plaguing her city.
Lightfoot and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio spoke a day after Trump said he would send law enforcement to several cities including Baltimore, Chicago, New York and Philadelphia to crack down on protests against racism and police brutality ignited by George Floyd's death in Minneapolis police custody on May 25.
A Republican, Trump made a point of saying the mayors of the cities on his list were liberal Democrats, underpinning concerns the threat was politically motivated. Federal agents last week were dispatched to counter protests in Portland, Oregon, where protesters have complained of agents making arrests without identifying themselves and using unmarked rental cars.
Opinion polls show Trump trails Democratic challenger Joe Biden in the run-up to a Nov. 3 presidential election. Trump has sought to make a crackdown a campaign issue, taking the spotlight off his response to the coronavirus pandemic, a weak point for him in the polls.
De Blasio said Trump's threat was likely bluster, but added that he would challenge any deployment in the courts. He said the actions of unidentified officers grabbing citizens in Portland "appeared to violate basic constitutional rights."
"This president blusters and bluffs and says he's going to do things and they never materialize on a regular basis, so we should not overrate his statements, they are so often not true."
Lightfoot said on Tuesday that she had been told that no unidentified officers would be deployed. The Chicago Tribune had reported on Monday that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees the forces in Portland, would deploy 150 agents to help tamp down violence in the city.
"Unfortunately there's been a lot of saber rattling about that coming from the president and members of his team," Lightfoot told reporters. "What I understand at this point, and I caveat that, is that the Trump administration is not going to actually deploy unnamed agents in the streets of Chicago."
Instead, Lightfoot said reinforcements would come from the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and "plug into" federal agencies already coordinating with the city on crime.
50 nights of protest
The Portland protests have gone on for more than 50 nights. On Monday, video showed federal agents firing tear gas, protesters pulling down fencing around the federal courthouse, and hundreds of people dressed in yellow who said they were mothers and fathers demanding the agents withdraw.
DHS has placed about 2,000 officials from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and other agencies on standby for possible deployment to cities, the New York Times reported.
A CBP official told Reuters that officers from three border units in paramilitary-type operations had been deployed to Portland. It was unclear whether officers had been deployed to other cities.
White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany told a briefing on Tuesday that dispatching agents was justified by a federal statute empowering the secretary of Homeland Security to deputize agents to protect federal property and people on that property.
At a separate briefing, acting Homeland Security secretary Chad Wolf said his agents were properly identifying themselves in Portland. "We are only targeting and arresting those who have been identified as committing crime," Wolf said.
However, legal experts said there were limits to Trump's power and that he could be challenged in court. "The president is not the king," said Kent Greenfield, a Boston College law professor.
Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum sued the Department of Homeland Security last week and asked a federal judge to grant a temporary order blocking its officers from what she called unlawful detentions that lacked probable cause.
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said he would criminally charge any federal agents who arrested citizens without probable cause or restrained them unlawfully. He said he saw potential crimes by agents in video footage from Portland.
But Krasner said he was skeptical that Trump would actually send agents to Philadelphia. He said the city's protests had been peaceful. "Let us not take these fluffy words and act like they are more than they really are," he said. "It's really just bluster."
(REUTERS)
Trump threatens to send federal forces to more ‘Democrat’ cities
Issued on: 21/07/2020
A federal law enforcement official fires tear gas at protesters during a protest against racial inequality in Portland, Oregon, on July 19, 2020. © Caitlin Ochs, Reuters
Text by:NEWS WIRES
President Donald Trump on Monday said he would send law enforcement to more U.S. cities, as a federal crackdown on anti-racism protests in Oregon with unmarked cars and unidentified forces angered people across the country.
Trump, a Republican, cited New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit, Baltimore and Oakland, California, as places to send federal agents, noting the cities' mayors were "liberal Democrats." Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot frequently blasts Trump on Twitter.
"We're sending law enforcement," Trump told reporters at the White House. "We can’t let this happen to the cities."
State and local leaders in Oregon, as well as members of Congress, have called for Trump to remove Department of Homeland Security secret police forces from Portland, Oregon, after videos showed unidentified federal personnel rounding up people and whisking them away in black minivans.
"Not only do I believe he is breaking the law, but he is also endangering the lives of Portlanders," the city's mayor, Ted Wheeler, tweeted, having previously called the federal presence "political theater" in an election year.
Trump, trailing in opinion polls behind Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, in June declared himself "president of law and order" and threatened to send the U.S. military into cities after sometimes violent protests and looting in the aftermath of African American George Floyd's death in police custody in Minneapolis.
Federal agents last week began cracking down on Portland protests against police brutality and systemic racism, using tear gas to defend federal buildings and taking some activists into custody without explanation.
"They grab a lot of people and jail the leaders. These are anarchists," Trump said of federal agents sent to the historically liberal city to quell often unruly protests.
Despite a national outcry over the tactics, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials on Monday said they would not back down and would not apologise.
The state of Oregon and the American Civil Liberties Union have sued the Trump administration for unlawfully detaining Oregon residents, and some Republicans spoke out against its tactics on Monday.
"There is no place for federal troops or unidentified federal agents rounding people up at will," tweeted U.S. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky.
The Chicago Tribune reported that Homeland Security was making plans to deploy around 150 agents in the city this week where police defending a statue clashed with protesters on Friday.
The DHS did not immediately respond to a request for additional comment.
(REUTERS)
Portland mayor demands federal troops leave city after clashes with anti-racism protesters
Issued on: 20/07/2020
Text by:NEWS WIRES
U.S. President Donald Trump condemned protests in Portland, Oregon, and violence in "Democrat-run" cities on Sunday as his Republican administration moves to intervene in urban centres he says have lost control of anti-racism demonstrations.
Federal law enforcement officers, armed with a new executive order aimed at protecting U.S. monuments, last week started cracking down on crowds gathering in Portland to protest police brutality and systemic racism.
After a chaotic night in Portland that saw a police association building set on fire and officers shooting tear gas at a group of mothers protesting police brutality, Trump and Portland's mayor traded barbs over who was to blame for the escalating unrest.
"We are trying to help Portland, not hurt it. Their leadership has, for months, lost control of the anarchists and agitators. They are missing in action. We must protect Federal property, AND OUR PEOPLE," Trump wrote in a Twitter post.
Facing declining polling numbers before his November 3 election against Democrat Joe Biden, Trump is making "law and order" a central campaign issue to appeal to critical suburban voters.
The crackdown in the liberal bastion of Portland drew widespread criticism and legal challenges as videos surfaced of camouflage-clad officers without clear identification badges using force and unmarked vehicles to arrest protesters without explanation.
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler said on Sunday that it was federal authorities who were sharply escalating the situation.
"Their presence here is actually leading to more violence and more vandalism," Wheeler said on CNN's "State of the Union" program. "And it's not helping the situation at all. They're not wanted here. We haven't asked them here. In fact, we want them to leave."
Wheeler and Oregon Governor Kate Brown, both Democrats, called the move an abuse of power by the federal government and the state filed a lawsuit against the U.S. agencies involved.
On Sunday, Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives demanded internal investigations into whether the Justice and Homeland Security departments "abused emergency authorities" in handling the Portland protests.
Nationwide crackdown
White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said Attorney General William Barr and Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf are working on measures the administration can take to counter the unrest.
"You'll see something rolled out this week as we start to go in and make sure that the communities, whether it's Chicago or Portland, or Milwaukee, or someplace across the heartland of the country, we need to make sure our communities are safe," Meadows said on "Sunday Morning Futures."
The announcement is expected to expand a new Justice Department initiative that sends federal law enforcement into cities facing protests.
Moms tear-gassed
In Portland on Saturday night, Melanie Damm said she saw unidentified federal officers in military-style gear fired tear gas canisters into a group of mothers, clad mostly in white, who were protesting against police brutality.
"The level of violence escalated by these GI soldiers was such an overreaction. You’re seeing moms getting tear-gassed," said Damm, herself a 39-year-old mom. "We aren’t young and Antifa-looking," she said, referring to more militant anti-fascism protesters.
In an interview on "Fox News Sunday," Trump attributed the increase in violence in cities such as Chicago and New York by saying "they’re Democrat-run cities, they are liberally run. They are stupidly run."
The Republican president last month threatened to send U.S. military troops to quell protests that erupted over police brutality and racism after the killing of a Black man, George Floyd, by a Minneapolis police officer.
Oregon's attorney general, Ellen Rosenblum, on Friday filed a federal lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the U.S. Marshals Service, and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), saying they had violated peoples' civil rights by seizing and detaining them without probable cause.
(REUTERS)
Trump, a Republican, cited New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit, Baltimore and Oakland, California, as places to send federal agents, noting the cities' mayors were "liberal Democrats." Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot frequently blasts Trump on Twitter.
"We're sending law enforcement," Trump told reporters at the White House. "We can’t let this happen to the cities."
State and local leaders in Oregon, as well as members of Congress, have called for Trump to remove Department of Homeland Security secret police forces from Portland, Oregon, after videos showed unidentified federal personnel rounding up people and whisking them away in black minivans.
"Not only do I believe he is breaking the law, but he is also endangering the lives of Portlanders," the city's mayor, Ted Wheeler, tweeted, having previously called the federal presence "political theater" in an election year.
Trump, trailing in opinion polls behind Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, in June declared himself "president of law and order" and threatened to send the U.S. military into cities after sometimes violent protests and looting in the aftermath of African American George Floyd's death in police custody in Minneapolis.
Federal agents last week began cracking down on Portland protests against police brutality and systemic racism, using tear gas to defend federal buildings and taking some activists into custody without explanation.
"They grab a lot of people and jail the leaders. These are anarchists," Trump said of federal agents sent to the historically liberal city to quell often unruly protests.
Despite a national outcry over the tactics, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials on Monday said they would not back down and would not apologise.
The state of Oregon and the American Civil Liberties Union have sued the Trump administration for unlawfully detaining Oregon residents, and some Republicans spoke out against its tactics on Monday.
"There is no place for federal troops or unidentified federal agents rounding people up at will," tweeted U.S. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky.
The Chicago Tribune reported that Homeland Security was making plans to deploy around 150 agents in the city this week where police defending a statue clashed with protesters on Friday.
The DHS did not immediately respond to a request for additional comment.
(REUTERS)
Portland mayor demands federal troops leave city after clashes with anti-racism protesters
Issued on: 20/07/2020
A man is struck by a police officer during a protest against racial inequality in Portland, U.S., July 18, 2020, in this still image obtained from a social media video. © THE PORTLAND TRIBUNE/via REUTERS
Text by:NEWS WIRES
U.S. President Donald Trump condemned protests in Portland, Oregon, and violence in "Democrat-run" cities on Sunday as his Republican administration moves to intervene in urban centres he says have lost control of anti-racism demonstrations.
Federal law enforcement officers, armed with a new executive order aimed at protecting U.S. monuments, last week started cracking down on crowds gathering in Portland to protest police brutality and systemic racism.
After a chaotic night in Portland that saw a police association building set on fire and officers shooting tear gas at a group of mothers protesting police brutality, Trump and Portland's mayor traded barbs over who was to blame for the escalating unrest.
"We are trying to help Portland, not hurt it. Their leadership has, for months, lost control of the anarchists and agitators. They are missing in action. We must protect Federal property, AND OUR PEOPLE," Trump wrote in a Twitter post.
Facing declining polling numbers before his November 3 election against Democrat Joe Biden, Trump is making "law and order" a central campaign issue to appeal to critical suburban voters.
The crackdown in the liberal bastion of Portland drew widespread criticism and legal challenges as videos surfaced of camouflage-clad officers without clear identification badges using force and unmarked vehicles to arrest protesters without explanation.
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler said on Sunday that it was federal authorities who were sharply escalating the situation.
"Their presence here is actually leading to more violence and more vandalism," Wheeler said on CNN's "State of the Union" program. "And it's not helping the situation at all. They're not wanted here. We haven't asked them here. In fact, we want them to leave."
Wheeler and Oregon Governor Kate Brown, both Democrats, called the move an abuse of power by the federal government and the state filed a lawsuit against the U.S. agencies involved.
On Sunday, Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives demanded internal investigations into whether the Justice and Homeland Security departments "abused emergency authorities" in handling the Portland protests.
Nationwide crackdown
White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said Attorney General William Barr and Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf are working on measures the administration can take to counter the unrest.
"You'll see something rolled out this week as we start to go in and make sure that the communities, whether it's Chicago or Portland, or Milwaukee, or someplace across the heartland of the country, we need to make sure our communities are safe," Meadows said on "Sunday Morning Futures."
The announcement is expected to expand a new Justice Department initiative that sends federal law enforcement into cities facing protests.
Moms tear-gassed
In Portland on Saturday night, Melanie Damm said she saw unidentified federal officers in military-style gear fired tear gas canisters into a group of mothers, clad mostly in white, who were protesting against police brutality.
"The level of violence escalated by these GI soldiers was such an overreaction. You’re seeing moms getting tear-gassed," said Damm, herself a 39-year-old mom. "We aren’t young and Antifa-looking," she said, referring to more militant anti-fascism protesters.
In an interview on "Fox News Sunday," Trump attributed the increase in violence in cities such as Chicago and New York by saying "they’re Democrat-run cities, they are liberally run. They are stupidly run."
The Republican president last month threatened to send U.S. military troops to quell protests that erupted over police brutality and racism after the killing of a Black man, George Floyd, by a Minneapolis police officer.
Oregon's attorney general, Ellen Rosenblum, on Friday filed a federal lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the U.S. Marshals Service, and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), saying they had violated peoples' civil rights by seizing and detaining them without probable cause.
(REUTERS)
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