Portland mayor to Trump administration: We want you to leave – POLITICO

The mayor added: In fact, we want them to leave.

The situation in Oregons largest city has become part of the national debate over what represents appropriate protest and what constitutes government oppression. Footage of people being scooped up on the streets of Portland and placed in vans has been circulated widely on social media in recent days, often accompanied by expressions of either delight or anger.

The deployment of federal agents has also fit with the presidents efforts to draw a contrast with Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, who Trump has claimed is not interested in law and order.

The Radical Left Democrats, who totally control Biden, will destroy our Country as we know it, Trump tweeted Sunday. Unimaginably bad things would happen to America. Look at Portland, where the pols are just fine with 50 days of anarchy.

Protests in Portland have continued since the death of George Floyd in Minnesota on Memorial Day. According to The Oregonian, the focus of the unrest has been a 12-block area; protests in other parts of the city have been largely without incident, but the disorder within the 12-block zone has included repeated skirmishes with police, as well as fires and vandalism.

In June, Wheeler called the destruction a horrible, horrendous miscalculation. One longtime community activist, Ronnie Herndon, added: That is a tactic thats been used to destroy Black people, not help Black people. On Saturday, a fire was set at the Portland Police Association, and police used tear gas in an attempt to clear the area.

In recent days, federal forces have been detaining and arresting protesters, and reports indicate that they have sometimes done so without identifying themselves and that they are using unmarked vehicles. Wheeler said the governments actions were in violation of the law and a threat to the nations democratic values.

The tactics that the Trump administration are using on the streets of Portland are abhorrent, Wheeler said, adding that people were being deprived of due process and being detained without probable cause.

As far as I can see, this is completely unconstitutional, Wheeler said.

The state of Oregon has sought to get rid of the federal agents, with Oregons attorney general, Ellen Rosenblum, suing late Friday in federal court. The American Civil Liberties Union has also challenged the administrations actions.

Authoritarian governments, not democratic republics, send unmarked authorities after protesters, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) tweeted on Thursday. These Trump/Barr tactics designed to eliminate any accountability are absolutely unacceptable in America, and must end. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) added: We must get to the bottom of these abuses against Oregonians.

On Sunday, three House committee chairs demanded the administrations actions be investigated by internal Trump administration watchdogs. "The legal basis for this use of force has never been explained, wrote Reps. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.).

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Portland mayor to Trump administration: We want you to leave - POLITICO