Portland, Oregon, Mayor Ted Wheeler (D) is condemning the federal agents that have been deployed into the city by President Donald Trump’s administration.
During an interview with CNN’s Don Lemon on Monday evening, Wheeler shared his disdain of federal troops in the streets of Portland as he noted their presence has only escalated the situation.
“This is just crazy,” Wheeler said. “We were coming to the end of our nightly demonstrations at least the part where people were vandalizing things and some scattered acts of violence. We saw the energy coming out of that. We thought it would be done in a couple of days.”
Like the protests in more than 100 cities across the United States, protesters descended on the streets of Portland following the death of George Floyd. As part of the Civil Rights Movement, protesters are continuing the fight against police brutality and racial injustice.
While many of the protests have been peaceful, Wheeler, like other mayors and governors, noted that the presence of military troops has escalated violence.
Wheeler continued, “Then the federal government sent in dozens if not hundreds of troops. They engaged in what I describe as really abhorrent tactics. And basically they blew the lid off of this. Since they have been here, we’ve had huge crowds come downtown. We’ve had more violence. … They basically kicked the hornets’ nest.”
See Wheeler’s remarks below:
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler says the tactics of camouflaged federal authorities deployed to protests in his city “are unconstitutional” adding that “in the United States you still have to have probable cause. People still have their rights and those rights seem to be trampled on." pic.twitter.com/QHZE8bOPTg
— CNN Tonight (@CNNTonight) July 21, 2020
When asked how local law enforcement feels about the presence of federal authorities, Wheeler also admitted that they are not pleased either as he also emphasized that there is unity between law enforcement officials and elected officials.
“They’re not happy about it,” Wheeler said. “The law enforcement officials, elected officials were unified. We didn’t ask for the troops. We don’t want them in the city.”
Wheeler outlined the “constitutional issues” the city is facing as a result of federal authorities’ “tactics.” According to Wheeler, unidentified federal agencies do not identify themselves before apprehending and detaining protesters.
“The tactics they’re using are very un-American. Everybody should pay attention to this. They’re coming into our city. They’re in marked vans. They pull people off the street. They don’t necessarily have probable cause. They don’t actually identify who they are to the people they’re pulling into the vans. There’s some really serious constitutional issues here.”
When asked if the people detained face charges, Wheeler confirmed they do not as he noted the other issue with the federal authorities’ tactics.
“Not only not charge them, in some cases they didn’t even identify who they were. So, we have people who have come back and said, ‘I feel like I was kidnapped. They didn’t tell me why they pulled me in. Who they were. Why they were here. … And that’s not the kind of thing you see on the streets of America.”
Wheeler has a clear demand of the federal authorities, as he shed light on the message he believes the president is sending to “liberal Democrat cities.”
“We’re all basically saying, ‘Go away.’ They have definitely escalated the situation here. They’ve created more danger for both local residents as well as local law enforcement.” Wheeler said.
He added, “The part that’s even scarier for us and the part I really want other people in America to pay attention to is the president has admitted that he is sending his federal troops into cities based on the political affiliation of the people who run those cities. In other words, what he describes as ‘liberal Democrat cities.’ And that, in my opinion, is a blatant abuse of federal policing power.”
