U.S. Attorney Billy Williams said Friday he wants an investigation into actions of federal officers who have pulled Portland protesters off the street and into unmarked vehicles.
Federal officers with U.S. Customs and Border Protection have come under significant scrutiny after OPB first reported Thursday that they may have been involved in constitutionally questionable arrests in Portland.
The officers, along with employees of the U.S. Marshals Service and the Federal Protective Service, have had an increased presence in the city as protests over police brutality have continued for more than six weeks.
“Based on news accounts circulating that allege federal law enforcement detained two protesters without probable cause, I have requested the Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General to open a separate investigation directed specifically at the actions of DHS personnel,” Williams said in his statement.
At least one officer with the Marshals Service is under investigation for severely injuring a Portland protester July 11 by shooting him in the face with an impact munition round.
In his statement, Williams said federal officers have spent the past 50 nights in Portland defending the Mark O. Hatfield federal courthouse and other federal property. That building has seen significant graffiti, and been a frequent gathering place for protesters opposing police violence.
“(Federal officers) have rebuffed efforts to enter the building by force and have been met with an onslaught of commercial fireworks, laser strikes, glass, mortars, paint and anything else near at hand,” Williams said. “They have endeavored to find the individuals within the crowd who are committing these violent acts and arrest them in a manner that is safe for both the officers and nearby non-violent protesters.”
However, Williams said in “limited instances” federal officers may have engaged in questionable conduct, such as the unmarked vehicle arrests, and that he believes investigations by the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General are appropriate.
Civil rights advocates and Oregon lawmakers — both federal and local — have strongly condemned the actions of federal officers.
Oregon Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley took to Twitter to criticize President Donald Trump and the Department of Homeland Security’s focus on protests in Portland.
“Get your DHS lackey and uninvited paramilitary actions out of my state. Our communities are not a stage for your twisted reelection campaign,” Merkley said.
Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Oregon, also said the Oregon Congressional Delegation has asked for an immediate inspector investigation into the “violent actions of unrequested federal law enforcement officials here in Portland.”
Straight up paramilitary goon squad nonsense right here, troops pulled from Customs and Border Patrol to invade a city and start rounding up "suspected Antifa members" where everyone who isn't a Trump voter in Portland counts as such.
I'd laugh at the predictability of it all, where I've been warning of Trump's increasing slide towards full military dictatorship for four years now, and with months t go before his doomed reelection, Trump's all but signaling that he'll have his Praetorian Guard in the streets leading up to Election Day and after, that he will violently put down anything that looks like resistance, and with overwhelming lethal force.
The next step down this particular road is a massacre and martial law, where Trump simply takes over a city or three to "restore order under emergency powers".
After that, we get into death squads and worse.
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