Protests of police brutality against Black Americans are in their second month in Portland, Oregon.
President Donald Trump's Department of Homeland Security deployed unidentified militarized federal agents to the city, where they began "proactively" arresting protestors, taking them to undisclosed locations in unmarked, non-government vehicles. They did so without correspondence or approval of local officials.
Trump intended for these police to restore so-called law and order to the area, but their presence only reinvigorated the protests and they've since increased in size and anger.
The President nevertheless praised the Department of Homeland Security's efforts, and continued his assertions that the presidency of 2020 Democratic nominee Joe Biden would mean "chaos and violence" in the streets.
A strategic advisor to the Trump campaign, Boris Epshteyn, echoed these assertions in a recent tweet.
Despite his claims that the situation in Portland "would be" Biden's America, Epshteyn conveniently failed to acknowledge that the unrest is currently unfolding on Donald Trump's watch.
Epshteyn attempted to clarify the tweet by saying that Portland is run by Democrats, and therefore supposedly an example of poor leadership on their part. He went on to say that, under Biden, this would be all of America.
People weren't buying his explanation.
They disputed Epshteyn's portrayal of the events in Portland as well.
Trump has since vowed to send similar troops to Chicago, where he says crime is out of hand. He's also contemplating sending the anonymous militarized officers to New York, Baltimore, Oakland, and other cities.
More and more people are starting to believe that Trump is creating chaos as an election strategy.
Oregon's Attorney General has since sued the agencies spearheading the deployment.
@FlavorFlav/X
@ziggy.the-gay.cat/Bluesky
@jeffgoldesq/X
@AaronParseghian/X