Donald Trump threatens to send troops to city streets

Donald Trump has threatened to send squads of federal agents to Chicago and other Democrat-controlled cities to restore order.

Federal police stand guard in the centre of Portland, Oregon, after pushing protesters away from a courthouse building on Tuesday night. Picture: Getty Images

Donald Trump has threatened to send squads of federal agents to Chicago and other Democrat-controlled cities to restore order in what critics have said could lead to a constitutional crisis.

The White House defended the aggression of uniformed but unidentified agents in Portland, ­Oregon, who tackled street protests that have raged for 52 days, with demonstrators laying siege to a court building and attacking officers with bricks and paint.

Federal officers in camouflage clothing have been accused of undue violence when trying to clear demonstrators, using tear gas and beating them with sticks.

Video has showed them in Portland taking some demonstrators away in unmarked vehicles. Most of those detained have been freed, but critics — including ­Oregon’s Governor and senators — likened the federal agents to “secret police” in more repressive societies.

Mr Trump suggested that ­deployments would follow in ­Chicago, where there has been a spate of shootings, including 12 deaths at the weekend and a shootout outside a funeral parlour on Wednesday AEST that left 14 people wounded.

According to reports, the DHS was preparing to send 150 paramilitary troops to Chicago after police there clashed with demonstrators seeking to tear down a statue of Christopher Columbus.

Those agents, who are generally used to investigate human trafficking, drugs and weapons smuggling, are expected to stay in Chicago for at least two months, ­according to an official who wanted to remain anonymous.

Mr Trump called the move necessary, even claiming Chicago was “worse than Afghanistan”. He also singled out Philadelphia, ­Detroit, Baltimore and Oakland, California, as potential cities for sending federal agents.

The Trump administration has already sent more than 100 federal officers to Kansas City, Missouri, to help quell a rise in violence after the shooting death of a young boy there.

Constitutional law experts said federal officers’ actions were “unprecedented” and a “red flag” in what could become a test case of states’ rights as the Trump administration expands federal policing.

The protests were originally sparked by the death of George Floyd in late May and have developed into daily demonstrations targeting federal buildings and calling for an end to police brutality and racial injustice.

Mr Trump’s warning of federal intervention comes six weeks after he declared himself “your president of law and order” when federal officers forcefully cleared a peaceful crowd in front of the White House so he could walk to a church that had been vandalised.

“We’re not going to let New York and Chicago and Philadelphia and Detroit and Baltimore and all of these — Oakland is a mess” Mr Trump said.

“All run by liberal Democrats. We’re going to have more federal law enforcement. In Portland, they’ve done a fantastic job … they grab them; a lot of people in jail. These are anarchists. These are not protesters.”

But Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot, tweeted: “Mr President or not — I don’t care one bit what your name is. I will not allow troops in Chicago, and I will do everything in my power to stop you.”

Democratic Oregon Governor Kate Brown said: “This is a democracy, not a dictatorship. We cannot have secret police abducting people in unmarked vehicles. I can’t believe I have to say that to the President of the United States.”

Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi compared the use of federal officers to sending in “stormtroopers”, but White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany defended their use, insisting: “By any objective standard the ­violence, chaos and anarchy in Portland is not acceptable. The Democrats continue to put politics above peace and this President seeks to restore law and order.”

Oakland mayor Libby Schaaf tweeted: “We are not experiencing any civil unrest right now. But I can think of nothing more likely to incite it than the presence of Trump-ordered military troops into Oakland.”

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio threatened to take the issue to court. “This President blusters and bluffs and says he’s gonna do things and they never materialise on a regular basis,” Mr de Blasio said.

“If he tried to do it, it would only create more problems, it would backfire, wouldn’t make us safer and we would immediately take action in court to stop it.

“From my point of view, this would be yet another example of illegal and unconstitutional ­actions by the President.”

Federal agencies defended their agents’ actions in Portland, saying some protesters had used radio frequency jammers and shot pellet and airsoft guns to injure ­officers. Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf said agents had also been ­assaulted with lasers, bats, fireworks, bottles and other weapons.

The Times

additional reporting: AFP, AP