Using "Gestapo-like" terror tactics, U.S. federal agents deployed on orders of President Donald Trump to Portland, Oregon continue to beat-up, tear gas and arrest Americans protesting against police brutality and calling for racial justice.
State and local Oregon lawmakers are demanding the federal officers immediately withdraw from Portland where they're not wanted. Federal officers were secretly deployed to Oregon on July 10 without the permission of the state government, ostensibly to protect statues and federal buildings – but not for riot control.
Despite their limited mandate, federal officers in camouflage uniforms without their names or unit markings have been beating-up protestors, arresting people, and forcing them into unmarked cars.
"This is a democracy, not a dictatorship," said Oregon Gov. Kate Brown Tuesday. "We cannot have secret police abducting people in unmarked vehicles."
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which is responsible for these federal agents, has admitted to the random arrests and the use of civilian cars. Critics of the federal presence in Oregon said this tactic is similar to those used by the Nazi secret police, the Gestapo, to silence opponents of dictator Adolf Hitler. The Nazis murdered many of their opponents.
The ongoing protests in Portland were triggered by the murder of Black American George Floyd on May 25 by a white police officer of the Minneapolis Police Department. This policeman knelt on Floyd's neck for almost nine minutes, leading to Floyd's horrific death by suffocation.
DHS has said it's arrested 43 Americans as part of its mission to protect statues and federal buildings. Acting DHS head Chad Wolf, a Trump sycophant, said the Trump administration will "not retreat" from its duty to protect statues and buildings.
On Wednesday, Wolf claimed the DHS department "will support and protect those who want to peacefully protest" despite videos showing federal agents gassing and beating-up protestors while not protecting statues and buildings.
In one video that went viral on social media, a U.S. Marshal pummeled a U.S. Navy veteran's left hand five times with a baton, breaking it in two places. This veteran, Chris David, was simply asking federal agents why they were there. In the video, David can be seen standing still as he's being hit hard with a baton. Another marshal sprays David's face with pepper spray twice.
Wolf inexplicably claimed the violence in Portland is being caused by protestors whose only aim is to destroy federal property. He claimed individual protesters "are organized and they have one mission in mind: to burn down or to cause extreme damage to the federal courthouse and to law enforcement officers."
He said federal agents were there to protect federal property such as the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse, which has been the focus of some of the protests.
"We will not retreat," said Wolf.
He also claimed "These police officers are not stormtroopers. They are not Gestapo," despite their wanton use of force against protestors.
Deployed to Oregon to protect statues and buildings are officers from the DHS, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Federal Protective Service, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Homeland Security Investigations. These numbers about 300 men, according to media reports.
Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum sued the federal government last week to remove the federal troops. Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler has kept demanding federal troops leave immediately. He said Wolf rejected his demands.
"(He) basically told us to stuff it," said Wheeler.
The mayor said incidents of protesters engaging in criminal activity had started to dissipate until federal agents arrived.
"(It) blew the lid off the whole thing," he said.
Last week, Wheeler called on Wolf to remove federal agents from the city. He accused these men of causing violence and using "life-threatening tactics." Wheeler said, "we do not need or want their help".
Four Oregon lawmakers in the U.S. Congress issued a statement condemning the actions of federal agents in Portland. U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley and U.S. Representatives Suzanne Bonamici and Earl Blumenauer assailed Trump for a "politically driven" response, and of seeking "to target, attack, or silence those peacefully exercising their First Amendment rights."
