Leaked memo shows DHS knew about situation in Portland

The US federal crackdown on protesters denouncing police brutality and racial injustice continues in Portland, Oregon.

According to an internal memo obtained by The New York Times, the federal agents deployed to the city to crack down on nationwide protests did not have riot and mass crowd control training.

"If this type of response is going to be the norm, specialized training and standardized equipment should be deployed to responding agencies,” read the memo, compiled for acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf.

The memo was released amid reports of unidentifiable, camouflaged federal officers picking up protestors in unmarked vans.

“DHS and DOJ [Department of Justice] are engaged in acts that are horrific and outrageous in our constitutional democratic republic,” said Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley Friday. “First, they are deploying paramilitary forces with no identification indicating who they are or who they work for. Second, these agents are snatching people off the street with no underlying justification. Both of these acts are profound offenses against Americans."

Merkley called on federal troops to withdraw from the US state, demanding a full investigation into use of force on protesters.

Federal law-enforcement officers cracked down on protesters in Portland, Oregon, with multiple videos posted online showing camouflage-clad officers without clear identification badges using force and transporting arrested protesters in unmarked vehicles https://t.co/UmcZwTduKm pic.twitter.com/iJkHQ6dJbk

— Reuters (@Reuters) July 18, 2020

“We demand not only that these acts end, but also that they remove their forces immediately from our state. Given the egregious nature of the violations against Oregonians, we are demanding full investigations by the Inspectors General of these departments.”

Tensions between police and protesters have risen further in the wake of the death of George Floyd by a white officer in Minnesota, which has triggered nationwide rallies.

"I told Acting Secretary Wolf that the federal government should remove all federal officers from our streets," Oregon Governor Kate Brown tweeted Thursday. "His response showed me he is on a mission to provoke confrontation for political purposes. He is putting both Oregonians and local law enforcement officers in harm’s way.

‘Pawns of Trump’

US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) was granted expanded authorities under President Donald Trump’s June 26 executive order to control the protests.

“While the CBP respects every American’s right to protest peacefully, violence and civil unrest will not be tolerated,” a CBP spokesperson said in a statement. “Violent anarchists have organized events in Portland over the last several weeks with willful intent to damage and destroy federal property, as well as injure federal officers and agents. These criminal actions will not be tolerated.”

Trump has been accused of using the CBP to take on the Black Lives Matter protesters.

“Border patrol agents have long been the political pawns of Donald Trump. It’s no surprise that the agency that detained innocent children at the border was deployed to Portland for more political theater at Trump's behest,” Ron Wyden, another senator from Oregon, told The Daily Beast. “A lot of serious questions remain about this abuse of power, but what is clear: Trump and his occupying army are escalating violence and trampling on the constitutional rights of Oregonians.”

The heavy handed crackdown came in response to the toppling of mostly Confederate monuments by the protesters over their racist origins.

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