Attempts to Impose Federal Control Over Conflicting Authorities
- Kathleen Chandler -
 
Oregon, July 19, 2020.
A main duty of the President of the United
States is to preserve the union and the power of
the rulers. A main difficulty he faces at this
time is uniting the military bureaucracy and
establishing presidential control over the many
policing agencies -- federal, state and local.
Without this, given the conflicts among and within
the military, federal, state and local
authorities, the union could splinter, or another
violent civil war break out, something the ruling
class as a whole is desperate to avoid. The
current use of federal forces in major cities is
part of this effort to impose greater presidential
control. It is done in the name of law and order
and democracy against "mob rule" and "mob
violence."
Trump previously threatened to use the military
in
cities where protests persist, something opposed
even by his own
Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and numerous other
military forces. Now
he is attempting to use the paramilitary forces of
the Department of
Homeland Security (DHS), such as Immigration and
Customs Enforcement
and the Border Patrol Tactical Unit (BORTAC),
along with the
Justice Department's FBI, Drug Enforcement
Administration and
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and
Explosives to impose
federal control. Local Portland police and those
elsewhere have not
asked for assistance and are not being consulted.
As officials have
also pointed out, local police have no authority
to stop or give orders
to federal forces. Trump has so far targeted
Albuquerque, Milwaukee,
Chicago, Detroit, New York City, Philadelphia,
Baltimore, and Oakland
for federal deployments.
The intervention by federal forces in Portland
was opposed by Mayor Wheeler, as well as
Governor Kate Brown and both Senators and
Representatives from Oregon. Wheeler, along with
the mayors of Seattle, Chicago, Atlanta,
Washington, DC, and Kansas City, Missouri, sent a
letter to DHS head Chad Wolf and U.S. Attorney
General William Barr on July 20, opposing the use
of federal forces. "We write to express our deep
concern and objection to the deployment of federal
forces in our cities, as those forces are
conducting law enforcement activities without
coordination or authorization of local law
enforcement officials... Unilaterally deploying
these paramilitary-type forces into our cities is
wholly inconsistent with our system of democracy
and our most basic values," the mayors wrote.
Portland, Oregon
More mayors have since signed on, including those
from Los Angeles, San Jose, Oakland, Tucson,
Denver and Philadelphia. As well, Philadelphia
District Attorney Larry Krasner has said that
federal forces who arrest protesters in
Philadelphia will be arrested. "Anyone, including
federal law enforcement, who unlawfully assaults
and kidnaps people will face criminal charges from
my office," Krasner said. Referencing the fight
against fascism in WWII, Krasner emphasized that
his office "will not make excuses for crimes
committed by law enforcement that demean the
democratic freedoms so many Americans have fought
and died to preserve."
Philadelphia is one of the cities named by Trump
for federal forces, along with Albuquerque,
Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee, Baltimore, New York
City and Oakland.
Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley said, "Federal forces
shot an unarmed protester in the face. These
shadowy forces have been escalating, not
preventing, violence." In the wake of that July 11
shooting, Senator Ron Wyden said, "Trump and
Homeland Security must now answer why federal
officers are acting like an occupying army." Like
Mayor Wheeler, they have called for federal forces
to leave Portland, as did Oregon Governor Kate
Brown, saying they were "a blatant abuse of power
by the federal government."
It is notable that these same people have not
rejected the violence and use of tear gas and
rubber bullets against protesters by local
Portland police -- which was at such a level that
a federal judge banned them. Their concern, like
those of mayors and governors elsewhere, is not
the rights of the people and their demands for
equality and change, but rather who exercises the
monopoly over the use of force. The President is
acting to have the monopoly on the use of force
dictated by the Office of the President, with or
without the consent of local and state forces.
The "live exercise" being conducted also affords
the possibility for direct relations between
federal and local policing agencies, bypassing
elected officials, as is done abroad between the
Pentagon and foreign military forces. In Portland,
dictate is used, rather than negotiations with
local political and police authorities. In
Chicago, a different approach has been taken --
that of negotiating with both the mayor and local
police forces. This is no doubt in part because
police officials specifically asked Trump to
intervene. As well, Chicago is a far larger city
with powerful police forces. The demonstrations
are also far larger as is the population.
Resistance Shows Path Forward for People's
Empowerment
DHS head Chad Wolf has made clear federal forces
will step up their illegal actions and suppression
of resistance. In attempts to justify more federal
intervention he repeatedly brands demonstrations
as a "violent mob," and participants as "violent
criminals" and "lawless anarchists." On July 16 he
said, "The city of Portland has been under siege
for 47 straight days by a violent mob while local
political leaders refuse to restore order to
protect their city. [...] A federal courthouse is
a symbol of justice -- to attack it is to attack
America."
In this manner Wolf is echoing Trump's efforts to
usurp the right to declare who is and who is not
"American." Trump's recent speeches, the executive
order making defacing statues a felony, which
further consolidated the use of federal forces in
the cities, all speak to this effort to
criminalize people who are defending rights and to
justify broader and more violent federal actions.
Facing the upsurge in resistance in Portland,
Trump said July 20, "We're going to have more
federal law enforcement -- that, I can tell you.
In Portland, they've done a fantastic job... They
grab them; a lot of people in jail. They're
leaders. These are anarchists. These are not
protesters. People say 'protesters'; these people
are anarchists. These are people that hate our
country."
On July 21 in a Fox News interview Wolf said,
"Because we don't have that local support, that
local law enforcement support, we are having to go
out and proactively arrest individuals." Based on
existing experience, this means that with no
probable cause and acting against people who have
committed no crime whatsoever, detentions and
arrests will be made of anyone who is said to be
"attacking America." As well, federal forces are
detaining, searching and interrogating people,
then releasing them with no record of the
detention, making any accountability even more
difficult as the federal officials claim the
detention never happened.
Trump, Wolf and U.S. Customs and Border
Protection Commissioner Mark Morgan are all
attempting to criminalize resistance while also
imposing their sole authority over how and when to
use force. Millions of demonstrators are clearly
not part of "their America." Those standing with
the demonstrators and supporting their demands --
the large majority of people -- are not either.
All are to be subject to violence and preemptive
attacks.
The claims by the various local and state
politicians that Trump's actions are
unconstitutional or "inconsistent with our system
of democracy," muddy the waters because the
Constitution they refer to is no longer capable of
exercising authority in the country. As a
consequence of the neo-liberal anti-social
offensive's inherent restructuring of the state
whose functions have been usurped by narrow
private interests, the decision-making power has
largely been concentrated in the Office of the
President. Congress is dysfunctional and the
courts largely reinforce the power of the
executive even though some rulings attempt to
uphold the division of powers between federal and
state forces in the Constitution and Bill of
Rights. The Constitution is not stopping the
police powers of the President, nor presidential
use of federal forces against the people.
Indeed, the notion that the Constitution can be
relied on does not temper the sharpening conflicts
between federal, state and local authorities, as
exemplified in Portland. As the presidential
election draws nearer, the conditions for open
civil war among the ruling factions vying for
power are ever-present. Trump is trying to get an
upper hand by establishing DHS and Justice
Department forces loyal to himself should the
military split or other policing agencies refuse
his orders.
The valiant resistance in Portland and other
cities and towns is providing a way forward by
rejecting the violence of all the policing
agencies, the all-round militarization of life and
sticking to the principle that change must favour
the people. Those currently governing at all
levels are seen as unfit to govern. Ample evidence
of this is how they are handling not only the
police killings and government racism but also the
COVID-19 pandemic. With their organized resistance
the people's forces are empowering themselves as
the Wall of Moms shows. They are not being drawn
into efforts to get them to side for or against
the various representatives of the rich. They are
persisting in accomplishing their aims to achieve
justice, equality, security and peace.
This article was published in
Volume 50 Number 27 - July 25, 2020
Article Link:
Attempts to Impose Federal Control Over Conflicting Authorities - Kathleen Chandler
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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