Trump’s ‘militia’ sparks political firestorm
Portland, a Democrat-run city in the Pacific northwest, is at the eye of a storm about secret police, political ploys and allegations of abuse of presidential power.
On one side of the street in Portland, Oregon, lines of mothers in yellow shirts, cycling helmets and goggles shout: “Feds stay clear, moms are here.” On the other, masked “federal troops” sent in by Donald Trump brandish assault rifles and fire tear gas.
These images – and reports of political protesters being hustled into unmarked vans by snatch squads – have sent shockwaves through America in the run-up to this year’s presidential election.
Portland, a Democrat-run city in the Pacific northwest, is at the eye of a storm about secret police, political ploys and the abuse of presidential power.
“Some presidents, when they get into trouble before an election, try to ‘wag the dog’ by starting a war abroad,” wrote Thomas Friedman, a New York Times columnist, last week. “Donald Trump seems ready to wag the dog by starting a war at home.”
The condemnation cuts across the political divide, for the president’s “troops” – whom he is threatening to send into other cities – are not from the armed forces or any police force.
Although they look like soldiers in their camouflage combat kit, they were sent in by the Department for Homeland Security (DHS), which was set up by George W Bush after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001.
The DHS has a series of responsibilities but its first chief, Tom Ridge, a Republican, said in a scathing critique last week: “The department was established to protect America from the ever-present threat of global terrorism. It was not established to be the president’s personal militia.”
Last week, Trump announced he would send dozens more federal troops to Chicago, a Democrat-run city wrestling with a record-breaking year of violence. New York, Philadelphia and Detroit, also led by Democrat mayors, are in his sights.
“We’ll go into all of the cities, any of the cities. We’re ready. We’ll put in 50,000, 60,000 people that really know what they’re doing,” Trump said on Thursday. As president, he is entitled to instruct federal troops to protect federal property, such as the courthouse in central Portland, which has been targeted in nightly protests since George Floyd was killed by police in Minneapolis two months ago.
After Trump issued an executive order, the DHS this month sent in personnel from agencies including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection.
According to local leaders, the street trouble had by then started to diminish. However, when the federal troops descended – against the wishes of local government – in tactical gear, hundreds more protesters turned out.
In nightly confrontations, demonstrators have hurled fireworks and rocks, and rioters have tried to set the courthouse alight. The agents have fired tear gas and rubber bullets in response but are accused of using excessive force and kidnapping demonstrators far from any federal buildings.
Refusing to identify themselves, they have snatched protesters off the street without explanation and thrown them into unmarked vans.
The Department of Justice is investigating complaints of excessive force. One widely circulated video shows a navy veteran, Christopher David, 53, being repeatedly beaten with a baton and pepper-sprayed in the face by agents last weekend. David, who suffered a broken hand, had confronted the agents about their constitutional duty.
The man in this Portland video is Christopher David.
— Mike Baker (@ByMikeBaker) July 19, 2020
A Navy veteran, he tells us he went to the protests for the first time to ask officers about the constitution.
He said his fingers are broken and he needs surgery.
MORE: https://t.co/W7qAD8R4xJpic.twitter.com/BBZnUZlJyW
The DHS insists its agents will remain until the violence has stopped. Trump, who called the city “worse than Afghanistan”, said they had done “a great job”.
Ted Wheeler, Portland’s Democratic mayor, who was tear-gassed by agents after joining the protests last week, has demanded the camo-clad agents leave the city.
Oregon’s Attorney-General, Ellen Rosenblum, has accused agents of using excessive force and arresting people without probable cause. “Every American should be repulsed when they see this happening,” she said as she filed one of a series of lawsuits to try to oust Trump’s troops. “If this can happen here in Portland, it can happen anywhere.”
Others dismiss the outrage as Trump-hating hyperbole. “Those lawsuits are publicity stunts. It’s a good waste of taxpayer money,” said John Yoo, a law professor from the University of California, Berkeley. “These blue-state [Democratic] mayors don’t have to allow their police to co-operate with federal officials or hand over illegal aliens to ICE if they don’t want to,” he said. “But they can’t stop federal officials doing their job.”
Yoo rejected the idea that agents were acting as Trump’s personal army. “All of the law enforcement officers take an oath to support and uphold the constitution,” he said.
The Times
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