Mayor of Portland to Trump: Get your troops out of the city

[aubiefifty 16,709]

apnews.com

Mayor of Portland to Trump: Get your troops out of the city

By ANDREW SELSKY and GILLIAN FLACCUS

7-8 minutes

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The mayor of Portland demanded Friday that President Donald Trump remove militarized federal agents he deployed to the city after some detained people on streets far from federal property they were sent to protect.

“Keep your troops in your own buildings, or have them leave our city,” Mayor Ted Wheeler said at a news conference.

Democratic Gov. Kate Brown said Trump is looking for a confrontation in the hopes of winning political points elsewhere. It also serves as a distraction from the coronavirus pandemic, which is causing spiking numbers of infections in Oregon and the nation.

Brown’s spokesman, Charles Boyle, said Friday that arresting people without probable cause is “extraordinarily concerning and a violation of their civil liberties and constitutional rights.”

Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum said she would file a lawsuit in federal court against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Marshals Service, Customs and Border Protection and Federal Protection Service alleging they have violated the civil rights of Oregonians by detaining them without probable cause. She will also seek a temporary restraining order against them.

The ACLU of Oregon said the federal agents appear to be violating people’s rights, which “should concern everyone in the United States.”

“Usually when we see people in unmarked cars forcibly grab someone off the street we call it kidnapping,” said Jann Carson, interim executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon. “The actions of the militarized federal officers are flat-out unconstitutional and will not go unanswered.”

Federal officers have charged at least 13 people with crimes related to the protests so far, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported Thursday. Some have been detained by the federal courthouse, which has been the scene of protests. But others were grabbed blocks away.

“This is part of the core media strategy out of Trump’s White House: to use federal troops to bolster his sagging polling data,” Wheeler said. “And it is an absolute abuse of federal law enforcement officials.”

One video showed two people in helmets and green camouflage with “police” patches grabbing a person on the sidewalk, handcuffing them and taking them into an unmarked vehicle.

“Who are you?” someone asks the pair, who do not respond. At least some of the federal officers belong to the Department of Homeland Security.

Customs and Border Protection said in a statement that its agents had information indicating the person in the video was suspected of assaulting federal agents or destroying federal property.

“Once CBP agents approached the suspect, a large and violent mob moved towards their location. For everyone’s safety, CBP agents quickly moved the suspect to a safer location,” the agency said. However, the video shows no mob.

In another case, Mark Pettibone, 29, said a minivan rolled up to him around 2 a.m. Wednesday and four or five people got out “looking like they were deployed to a Middle Eastern war.”

Pettibone told The Associated Press he got to his knees as the group approached. They dragged him into the van without identifying themselves or responding to his questions and pulled his beanie over his eyes so he couldn’t see, he said.

“I figured I was just going to disappear for an indefinite amount of time,” Pettibone said.

Pettibone said he was put into a cell and officers dumped the contents of his backpack, with one remarking: “Oh, this is a bunch of nothing.”

After he asked for a lawyer, Pettibone was allowed to leave.

“Authoritarian governments, not democratic republics, send unmarked authorities after protesters,” Democratic U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley said in a tweet.

U.S. Attorney Billy Williams in Portland said Friday he has requested the Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General to investigate the actions of DHS personnel.

In a letter Friday, Oregon’s two senators and two of its House members demanded that U.S. Attorney General William Barr and Homeland Security Acting Secretary Chad Wolf immediately withdraw “these federal paramilitary forces from our state.”

The members of Congress also said they’ll be asking the DHS inspector general and the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the presence and actions of federal forces in Portland.

“It’s painfully clear this administration is focused purely on escalating violence without answering my repeated requests for why this expeditionary force is in Portland and under what constitutional authority,” Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden said.

On Thursday night, federal officers deployed tear gas and fired non-lethal rounds into a crowd of protesters.

Wolf visited Portland on Thursday and called the demonstrators, who are protesting racism and police brutality, “violent anarchists.”

Wolf blamed state and city authorities for not putting an end to the protests. But Portland police said Friday they wound up arresting 20 people overnight.

At least two protests occurred Thursday night, one near the federal courthouse and the other by a police station in another part of the city. Police told protesters to leave that site after announcing they heard some chanting about burning down the building. Protester Paul Frazier said Friday the chant was “much more rhetorical than an actual statement.”

Portland Police Chief Chuck Lovell told reporters Friday that his officers are in contact with the federal agents, but that neither controls the others’ actions.

“We do communicate with federal officers for the purpose of situational awareness and deconfliction,” Lovell said. “We’re operating in a very, very close proximity to one another.”

The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon on Friday added the federal government to a lawsuit it filed earlier to halt the use of crowd control measures, including tear gas and rubber bullets, against journalists and legal observers at protests in Portland.

“The lawsuit is one of many the ACLU will be filing against federal authorities in Portland for their unconstitutional attacks on people protesting the police killing of George Floyd,” the group said.

Tensions have escalated in the past two weeks, particularly after an officer with the U.S. Marshals Service fired a less-lethal round at a protester’s head on July 11, critically injuring him.

The protests following the police killing of Floyd in Minneapolis have often devolved into violent clashes between smaller groups and the police.

___

This version corrects that the governor did not say the deployment serves as a distraction, and that chanting about burning happened at police station, not federal courthouse.

[I_M4_AU 7,772]

The mayor of Portland is one big weasel.  He tells Trump to get Federal troops out of Portland, but can’t control his own city as *protesters* disrupt his city for 50 days.

14 hours ago, aubiefifty said:

 

The protests following the police killing of Floyd in Minneapolis have often devolved into violent clashes between smaller groups and the police.

So, what does a Democratic politician do about this, appeasements until there is real crime such as murder (see CHOP, Commie Hippies On Pot).  What a way to run a city you are responsible for.  Sometime an elected official has to make a tough call, if they can’t they shouldn’t run for office. 

[homersapien 11,354]

17 hours ago, aubiefifty said:

 

The mayor of Portland demanded Friday that President Donald Trump remove militarized federal agents. “Keep your troops in your own buildings, or have them leave our city,”....

Democratic Gov. Kate Brown said Trump is looking for a confrontation in the hopes of winning political points elsewhere.

Brown’s spokesman, Charles Boyle, said Friday that arresting people without probable cause is “extraordinarily concerning and a violation of their civil liberties and constitutional rights.”

Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum said she would file a lawsuit in federal court against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security

“Usually when we see people in unmarked cars forcibly grab someone off the street we call it kidnapping,” said Jann Carson, interim executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon.

“Authoritarian governments, not democratic republics, send unmarked authorities after protesters,” Democratic U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley said in a tweet.

U.S. Attorney Billy Williams in Portland said Friday he has requested the Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General to investigate the actions of DHS personnel.

Oregon’s two senators and two of its House members demanded that U.S. Attorney General William Barr and Homeland Security Acting Secretary Chad Wolf immediately withdraw “these federal paramilitary forces from our state.”

 

So much for "home rule" and "states rights".  

So much for "Federalism".  

Trump has revealed what many of us have long suspected. The Republican Party is nothing but a bunch of hypocritical, power hungry,  wanna-be authoritarians.  "Conservatism"  has nothing to do with it. 

I think it started with Nixon's "Southern Strategy".

 

[AUFAN78 3,890]

 

[AUFAN78 3,890]

Reminds one of this yet a handful on the left here support this crap. Pathetic.

[AUDub 11,131]

Y'all watch out. 78 has had a few and he's ready to rumble. 

[AUFAN78 3,890]

7 minutes ago, AUDub said:

Y'all watch out. 78 has had a few and he's ready to rumble. 

Define rumble. LOL

Unfortunately the commentary is true. I hate that for real.

[Mikey 16,550]

If the mayor of Portland or any other American city refuses to protect OUR federal properties from domestic terrorists, then the Federal government can and should step in and do it. The President is well within his constitutional rights to send troops in when the locals fail to do their job.

None other than the hallowed JFK federalized the Alabama National Guard and sent them to Tuscaloosa to remove George Wallace from the schoolhouse door. The libs are acting like this has never been done before.

[SocialCircle 570]

On 7/19/2020 at 1:32 PM, homersapien said:

So much for "home rule" and "states rights".  

So much for "Federalism".  

Trump has revealed what many of us have long suspected. The Republican Party is nothing but a bunch of hypocritical, power hungry,  wanna-be authoritarians.  "Conservatism"  has nothing to do with it. 

I think it started with Nixon's "Southern Strategy".

 

BS. If you want federal troops out of your city, quit breaking federal laws. 

[aubiefifty 16,709]

the difference between kennedy and trump is kennedy was protecting a student and her rights. trump is just trying to get reelected and breaking the law doing it. but i get it..............some of you righties are bowing down to your master. well at least you guys have backed off the chosen one thing which by the way hurt religion in my opinion.

[Mikey 16,550]

56 minutes ago, aubiefifty said:

the difference between kennedy and trump is kennedy was protecting a student and her rights. trump is just trying to get reelected and breaking the law doing it. but i get it..............some of you righties are bowing down to your master. well at least you guys have backed off the chosen one thing which by the way hurt religion in my opinion.

Trump is protecting OUR federal properties. He is not breaking any law to do it. The constitution grants him that power, just as it granted Kennedy such power.

At times, you get just plain silly.

[AUFAN78 3,890]

1 hour ago, aubiefifty said:

trump is just trying to get reelected and breaking the law doing it.

Fidy I don't know if anyone told you, but this is an election year. So, yes he is on a campaign trail. And I think you meant he was responding to those breaking the law right? If not, what law did he break?

[SocialCircle 570]

3 minutes ago, Mikey said:

Trump is protecting OUR federal properties. He is not breaking any law to do it. The constitution grants him that power, just as it granted Kennedy such power.

At times, you get just plain silly.

It is because he is driven by emotion. His irrational hate of Trump will not allow him to think clearly. 

[AUFAN78 3,890]

6 minutes ago, SocialCircle said:

It is because he is driven by emotion. His irrational hate of Trump will not allow him to think clearly. 

That sounds very familiar. Anyone want to confess?

[aubiefifty 16,709]

24 minutes ago, AUFAN78 said:

Fidy I don't know if anyone told you, but this is an election year. So, yes he is on a campaign trail. And I think you meant he was responding to those breaking the law right? If not, what law did he break?

i am pretty sure kidnapping people off the streets with no probable cause other than walking down the street is breaking the law. if you and others read the article you would know.

[AUFAN78 3,890]

On 7/25/2020 at 9:47 AM, aubiefifty said:

i am pretty sure kidnapping people off the streets with no probable cause other than walking down the street is breaking the law. if you and others read the article you would know.

Not sure I am buying the "no probable cause" at this point. If real proof materializes I would denounce it.

[aubiefifty 16,709]

1 hour ago, AUFAN78 said:

Not sure I am buying the "no probable cause" at this point. If real proof materializes I would denounce it.

man you need to read something like yahoo or aol news that carries all kinds of news folks and you might learn something. they were just snatching guys off the street not even close to the protesters. and they did it often and it is against the law. it is like they were fishing and just hoping to catch something. but no names and no badges. no reason stated for being picked up. that is illegal and you should be mad this country is doing it. and yeah your boy trump sent them.

[homersapien 11,354]

On 7/25/2020 at 10:18 AM, Mikey said:

Trump is protecting OUR federal properties. He is not breaking any law to do it. The constitution grants him that power, just as it granted Kennedy such power.

At times, you get just plain silly.

BS.  Don't be so gullible.  Trump's intent is clear, as most thinking people realize.

 

.......On Fox, protests show Trump’s glorious strength

Meanwhile, Trump is mainlining from Fox a daily picture of the protests that is highly distorted and narcotically numbing.

The Times reports that the rash of new protests over the weekend in cities such as Seattle and Oakland, Calif., were largely driven by reaction to Trump’s law enforcement invasion of Portland, Ore. The Seattle mayor claims this “escalated” matters across the country, and the Oakland mayor warns it will “incite more unrest.”

This is surely why Trump is sending in law enforcement in the first place — he believes inciting violent civil conflict will help his reelection. As one GOP strategist candidly tells the Times, Republicans are hoping to define Democrats “as being on the side of the anarchists in Portland.”

The crucial point here is that what Trump sees on Fox is surely persuading him that he’s succeeding in doing just that.

Fox personalities are claiming that electing Joe Biden will make civil violence “a staple of American life everywhere.” They are relentlessly doctoring Biden quotes to paint him as anti-police. And they are suggesting that Trump’s Mount Rushmore speech, which conflated protests with “far-left fascism” to justify sending in more law enforcement, represented the greatest oratory since Cicero.

All this surely reinforces Trump’s belief that this messaging is working for him. After all, the imagery of violence, when hyped this way, does make for powerful television. And Trump knows powerful television when he sees it!

But in the Fox narrative of the protests, there is no room for any acknowledgement that Trump is functioning as a primarily inciting and destructive force, or that this fact might be further alienating the educated white suburban voters who are supposed to find Trump’s authoritarian displays reassuring.

Yet a recent Post-ABC News poll found that college-educated whites trust Biden over Trump to handle crime and safety by 52 percent to 40 percent. Among college-educated white women, that’s a stunning 58 percent to 37 percent. Among suburbanites, it’s 48 percent to 44 percent. Trump is even losing on this among seniors.

And a recent Yahoo News-YouGov poll found that a larger percentage of suburban voters say the country will become less safe if Trump wins (48 percent) than say the same about Biden (37 percent). Among women, it’s even worse for Trump (50 percent and 33 percent, respectively).

On the two biggest crises convulsing the country — the deadliest public health emergency in modern times, and the worst civil unrest in half a century — Trump is further alienating the middle of the country with his malign destructiveness and his depraved reveling in the supposed power of his own cultish propaganda.........

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/07/27/how-fox-news-may-be-destroying-trumps-reelection-hopes/?hpid=hp_save-opinions-float-right-4-0_opinion-card-c-right%3Ahomepage%2Fstory-ans

[Mikey 16,550]

12 hours ago, homersapien said:

BS.  Don't be so gullible.  Trump's intent is clear, as most thinking people realize.

So now you can read President Trump's mind? LMAO!  Trump should stop lollygaging, federalize the national guard and sent them in to rout these domestic terrorists out of the streets and into a compound, there to await trial and sentencing. If it's hot, dirty and smells bad in the compound, so much the better.

PS: You're still posting quotes from WAPO op-ed pieces? That's funny. When these numbskulls are already burning buildings and destroying businesses, how can sending troops in possibly be inciting riots? They are already rioting!

[homersapien 11,354]

11 hours ago, Mikey said:

So now you can read President Trump's mind? LMAO!  Trump should stop lollygaging, federalize the national guard and sent them in to rout these domestic terrorists out of the streets and into a compound, there to await trial and sentencing. If it's hot, dirty and smells bad in the compound, so much the better.

PS: You're still posting quotes from WAPO op-ed pieces? That's funny. When these numbskulls are already burning buildings and destroying businesses, how can sending troops in possibly be inciting riots? They are already rioting!

Everyone in the ******* world can read Trump's mind! 

It's ridiculous how easy he can be played.

 

[homersapien 11,354]

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/26/us/protests-portland-seattle-trump.html

SEATTLE — A series of strident new protests over police misconduct rattled cities across the country over the weekend, creating a new dilemma for state and local leaders who had succeeded in easing some of the turbulence in their streets until a showdown over the use of federal agents in Oregon stirred fresh outrage.

With some demonstrators embracing destructive protest methods and police often using aggressive tactics to subdue both them and others who are demonstrating peacefully, the scenes on Saturday night in places like Seattle, Oakland, Calif., and Los Angeles recalled the volatile early days of the protests after the death of George Floyd at the end of May.

The latest catalyst was the deployment of federal law enforcement agents in Portland, Ore., whose militarized efforts to subdue protests around the federal courthouse have sparked mass demonstrations and nightly clashes there. They have also inspired new protests of solidarity in other cities, where people have expressed deep concern about the federal government exercising such extensive authority in a city that has made it clear it opposes the presence of federal agents.

President Trump has seized on the scenes of national unrest — statues toppled and windows smashed — to build a law-and-order message for his re-election campaign, spending more than $26 million on television ads depicting a lawless dystopia of empty police stations and 911 answering services that he argues might be left in a nation headed by his Democratic rival, Joseph R. Biden Jr......

 

The situation has left city leaders, now watching the backlash unfold on their streets, outraged and caught in the middle. Mayor Jenny Durkan of Seattle said in an interview Sunday that the city is in the middle of a self-fulfilling prophecy, with protesters infuriated by the federal presence in Portland smashing windows and setting fires, the very images of “anarchy” that the president has warned about.

“There is no question that the actions in Portland have escalated things, not just in Seattle, but nationwide,” Ms. Durkan said.

[AUFAN78 3,890]

On 7/26/2020 at 10:06 PM, aubiefifty said:

man you need to read something like yahoo or aol news that carries all kinds of news folks and you might learn something. they were just snatching guys off the street not even close to the protesters. and they did it often and it is against the law. it is like they were fishing and just hoping to catch something. but no names and no badges. no reason stated for being picked up. that is illegal and you should be mad this country is doing it. and yeah your boy trump sent them.

AOL and Yahoo love you. We will leave it there. 

[Mikey 16,550]

22 hours ago, homersapien said:

“There is no question that the actions in Portland have escalated things, not just in Seattle, but nationwide,” Ms. Durkan said.

Has it not occurred to you that Ms. Durkan is a nit-wit?

[homersapien 11,354]

1 hour ago, Mikey said:

Has it not occurred to you that Ms. Durkan is a nit-wit?

No - but as someone who claims they know more about Seattle than the mayor of Seattle - it certainly occurs to me that you are.

 

[Mikey 16,550]

12 hours ago, homersapien said:

No - but as someone who claims they know more about Seattle than the mayor of Seattle - it certainly occurs to me that you are.

 

The nit-wit mayor of Seattle let her city be burned and looted, calling it "a summer of love". I don't think the citizens of that city who had their houses and businesses destroyed think of her as other than a nit-wit.