After over a month of protests in Portland, Oregon, the federal government deployed armed officers who began detaining protesters without cause before taking them away in unmarked, non-government vehicles.
The federal agents did not identify themselves, nor did they correspond with local authorities. The Oregon Attorney General—Ellen Rosenblum—filed a lawsuit on Friday asserting that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the federal government infringed on the rights of Oregonians by detaining them without cause.
Watch below.
Acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf insisted that the federal soldiers would continue to police Portland, and President Donald Trump—who frequently paints himself as a "law and order" President—said that the unidentified federal forces would likely intervene in other cities as well.
Watch below.
Trump said:
"We'll have more federal law enforcement, that I can tell you. In Portland, they've done a fantastic job. They've been there three days and they really have done a fantastic job in a very short period of time, no problem. They grab them, lot of people in jail, their leaders. These are anarchists, these are not protesters...These are people that hate our country."
Trump credited the federal law enforcement with suppressing the protests, but reports on the ground indicate that their presence and intervention only reinvigorated the protestors, and even motivated people who hadn't protested before to turn out.
Nevertheless, Trump said that cities like Chicago, New York, Oakland, and Detroit would likely see federal intervention—with or without the endorsement of state leadership.
Democratic Detroit Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib made it clear on Twitter that she wouldn't abide that move.
Tlaib said that she would be arrested protecting her residents from potentially dangerous interactions with the federal troopers.
Her concern about officers laying their hands on her residents isn't unfounded.
This past weekend, a Navy veteran who was protesting asked the officers to remember the vows they took. They responded by beating and macing him.
The sight of the unauthorized federal forces paints an increasingly dystopian picture unfamiliar to most Americans.
People agree with Tlaib that foisting federal troopers into cities Trump deems unworthy would only create more chaos and violence.
They commended her for speaking out and being prepared to put her body on the line.
Concerns are growing that Trump is creating police states with an insidious, mysterious militia.
The protests in Oregon continue.
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