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SUPPLEMENT
No. 27July 25, 2020
Security in the U.S. Lies in the People's
Defence of the Rights of All
People in Portland, Oregon Fight
Trump's Imposition of Federal Forces
to Suppress Protests
Portland, Oregon, Wall of Moms at front of the
demonstration, July 22, 2020.
• Attempts
to Impose Federal Control Over Conflicting
Authorities
- Kathleen Chandler -
• What
Trump Seeks to Accomplish by Sending Federal
Police Forces to Chicago Already Armed to the
Teeth
- Voice of Revolution -
For Your Information
• Mayors Call for Removal of
Federal Forces
• Oregon
Attorney
General Files Lawsuit to
Block Suppression of Protest by Federal Forces
• Chicago
Organizers
File Lawsuit
Security in the U.S. Lies in the
People's Defence of the Rights of All
 
Demonstrations in Portland, Oregon persist and
have increased in size as many join in rejecting
the use and violence of federal forces and the
complete lack of accountability for their actions.
The federal forces were sent June 29 and have
continued to intervene, using tear gas
indiscriminately without warning, beating two
street medics, a veteran and others with
nightsticks, and using lethal rubber bullets and
pepper spray against journalists. At least one
protester was shot in the face with a rubber
bullet and hospitalized with a fractured
skull. Tear gas has been used nightly, literally
fogging the downtown area, despite a federal court
order -- won by demonstrators in June -- banning
the use of tear gas and rubber bullets.
 Actions in Portland
have persisted for 58 days as of July 25,
including many of more than 10,000 people in May,
joining millions across the U.S. demanding justice
for the racist police killing of George Floyd and
now again thousands daily demanding federal forces
get out of Portland and the rights of all be
protected.
On July 17 viral videos showed federal forces in
unmarked vans kidnapping protesters off the
streets, as well as of them beating protesters
with batons and another of the tear gassing of a
peaceful protest without warning.
On July 18 dozens of moms came out and linked
arms, positioning themselves between the heavily
armed federal forces and the youth and others
demonstrating. They too were tear gassed and
assaulted and then they came back in even larger
numbers on July 19. Said a mom representing the
views of many, "We're alongside the fence telling
them: 'Feds go home, the moms are here.'" The Moms
are saying, "You're not gonna hurt our kids." They
have become known as The Wall of Moms and chapters
are now forming in cities across the country to
assist in strengthening the organized resistance.
The Moms are also calling on the federal forces to
not follow illegal orders, chanting, "Don't Shoot
Your Mother."
A large group of fathers, known as Leaf Blowers
Against Tear Gas, also joined in. They used garden
leaf blowers to help disperse the tear gas and
blow it back toward the federal forces. As one
said, "Everyone knows a leaf blower is the tool
dads use to clean up messes."
The more the police take over the role of judge,
jury and executioner, the more they engage in
actions which verge on war crimes and crimes
against humanity. They also inhibit freedom of the
press and assembly. This angers many, bringing
people who have not come out before to the
demonstrations.
The federal forces deployed by the Department of
Homeland Security (DHS) include a special elite
squad from Customs and Border Protection, the
Border Patrol Tactical Unit, (BORTAC) commonly
used for highly dangerous and violent missions,
including in Iraq and Afghanistan. BORTAC uses
snipers and flash bang grenades, which stun all
those in range and can cause deafness, severe
burns and sever limbs. Both have been used in
Portland.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement is also
present, as is the Federal Protective Service,
which usually protects federal buildings. U.S.
Marshals are also involved and various others. All
are generally clothed in the same military-style
fatigues, heavily armed and operating without
identifying badges or jackets and without name
tags.
"Snatch and grab" operations are also taking
place. This police tactic, practised by U.S.
Homeland Security during the 2010 G20 in Toronto,
consists of a dual process of intelligence
gathering and target extraction.
"In Portland, Oregon, federal agents in military
fatigues have for several days been patrolling the
streets amid ongoing protests about police
brutality. These forces, employed by the
Department of Homeland Security, have snatched
people off the streets of the city, refused to
identify themselves, and detained people without
charges. Ostensibly, they are present to protect
federal buildings from protesters. In practice,
they seem to be acting on a much wider mandate,
either to suppress protests or (more cynically) to
provoke confrontation on behalf of a flailing
White House that sees it as electorally
beneficial," writes David A. Graham in The
Atlantic.
DHS specifically formed the Protecting American
Communities Task Force following Trump's executive
order of June 26. The order makes it a felony to
deface or remove federal statues -- currently a
main means of protest against government racism
and glorification of confederate generals and
slave owners. DHS officials have said they expect
the "unrest" across the country to escalate at
least through the November election.
While protection of federal buildings, like
courthouses, is being used to justify the
intervention, it is clear the aim is to further
suppress resistance and terrorize cities while
also imposing federal control of policing over
state and local forces. In many ways Portland is a
live exercise for Trump, testing the readiness of
DHS forces to carry out unjust and illegal orders,
the response of state and local officials, and the
resilience of demonstrators. In Portland and
throughout the U.S. the forces fighting for change
which ends racism, police killings, brutality and
impunity, for justice, equality and security, have
answered loud and clear that they are determined
and undaunted by attempts of local and federal
forces to suppress their protest movement.
- 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.
- Voice of Revolution -
Chicago, June 28, 2020.
President Trump announced July 22 that he will
send hundreds of federal forces from the
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Justice
Department to Chicago. They are being sent in the
name of helping with violent crime, particularly
homicides and shootings. But if Portland is any
guide, they will likely also be used against
ongoing demonstrations demanding an end to racist
police brutality and inequality and claiming that
the rights of all be upheld. The African-American
community in Chicago is large and politically
active as are the large Mexican-American, Puerto
Rican and immigrant communities. All are front and
centre along with Black Lives Matter in the
current protests.
It comes as no surprise that Black Lives Matter
organizers and others are being defamed as drug
traffickers and targeted by Trump's federal forces
in the name of fighting drugs. In this way, the
pretext differs from the one used in Portland,
Oregon, but the aim of presidential executive
power controlling police powers at all levels --
federal, state and local -- and suppressing the
resistance in the name of law and order remains
the same.
The federal forces include the FBI, Drug
Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the Bureau
of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF)
-- all notorious for framing people, including
organizers of the people's movement for
empowerment, on drug and murder charges while
themselves supplying guns and drugs to the
cartels. DEA and FBI have long worked with the
Chicago Police Department (CPD), including at a
detention centre known as Homan Square. Here
thousands of people, mostly African Americans and
Latinx and protesters such as those against NATO,
have been illegally interrogated and tortured
using beatings, sleep deprivation, withholding of
food and water for long periods, threats of false
charges and more while being refused contact with
lawyers. Homan Square has been targeted by the
protests so many anticipate federal forces will be
used to protect it.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and an
elite squad from Customs and Border Protection,
BORTAC, are already present in Chicago and may be
augmented. BORTAC was sent to Chicago in February
as part of Trump's efforts to retaliate against
sanctuary cities that instructed local police not
to cooperate with ICE in detaining immigrants.
Chicago police also have a long history of
framing organizers as well as outright
assassination, such as of Fred Hampton of the
Black Panther Party. The movement in Chicago is
now bracing for police actions of this type by
federal and local police, along with felony riot
and similar charges. Also to be expected is
that DHS will send additional forces from
these agencies as well as the newly formed
"Protecting American Communities Task Force," with
responsibility to protect federal buildings and
property and prevent "civil unrest."
In announcing the deployment, Trump blamed
protesters for the violent crime they are
supposedly being sent to address: "In recent
weeks, there has been a radical movement to
defund, dismantle, and dissolve our police
departments. Extreme politicians have joined this
anti-police crusade and relentlessly vilified our
law enforcement heroes. To look at it from any
standpoint, the effort to shut down policing in
their own communities has led to a shocking
explosion of shootings, killings, murders, and
heinous crimes of violence."
In this manner Trump is providing the basis to
further criminalize and target the demonstrators
as being responsible for crime while also trying
to gain the support of the local police forces.
By-Passing Elected Officials
One of the aims Trump seeks to achieve in Chicago
is to increase federal control over the monopoly
to use force while not directly confronting the
powerful Chicago Police Department (CPD). This is
why negotiations are taking place and promises are
being made to address crime, not protesters. The
forces are supposed to be uniformed with the usual
FBI, ICE, DEA jackets, etc -- but all these forces
go under cover for drug operations, for example,
and could readily deploy undercover agents into
the communities. The FBI has long infiltrated
movement organizations and likely will step up
such efforts. As well, once deployed, it remains
unclear if the "coordination" promised will
materialize.
It is also possible that while local politicians
may object to actions by the federal forces, the
police may not. Direct relations are being
established between federal and local policing
agencies, bypassing elected officials, as already
exists with Homan Square. This enforces federal
control over the monopoly of the use of force
which is a main goal of the presidential executive
power at this time.
"If federal agents are deployed, it is critical
that they coordinate with the Chicago Police
Department and work alongside us to fight violent
crime in Chicago," Chicago police spokesperson
Kellie Bartoli said. No mention was made of
coordinating with local elected officials.
The head of the police union wrote to Trump
directly asking for federal forces. Echoing
Trump's attacks on city mayors, he said: "I am
certain you are aware of the chaos currently
affecting our city on a regular basis now. I am
writing to formally ask you for help from the
federal government. Mayor Lightfoot has proved to
be a complete failure who is either unwilling or
unable to maintain law and order here."
Elected officials have nonetheless already
expressed doubt about the role of the federal
forces. While both Mayor Lori Lightfoot and
Governor J.B. Pritzker have agreed to the
deployment, they initially rejected it and
continue to raise concerns.
"Our democracy is at stake, and I'll be darned if
I'm going to let anybody -- even if their name is
Mr. President -- bring those kind of troops to our
city and try to take on our residents," Mayor
Lightfoot said at first. "That's not going to
happen in Chicago. And I'm going to use every tool
at my disposal to stop them," she said.
Lightfoot also signed the July 20 letter from
mayors of many cities in the U.S. rejecting use of
federal forces in their cities. However, the very
same day, in a letter to Trump, she agreed to the
deployment on the grounds of fighting crime and
drugs. "What we do not need and what will
certainly make our community less safe is secret,
federal agents deployed to Chicago. Any other form
of militarized assistance within our borders that
would not be within our control or within the
direct command of the Chicago Police Department
would spell disaster."
Current experience is that the federal forces,
not the Chicago Police Department, will take
control, pitting two highly armed forces against
each other and against the people.
Governor Pritzker also initially opposed federal
forces saying, "We're going to do everything we
can to prevent them from coming. And if they do
come, we're going to do everything we can from a
legal perspective to get them out." Then, after
speaking with the FBI, he said, "I welcome
legitimate resources from the federal government
to reduce violence and help our residents stay
safe." Referring to the well-known "grab and
snatch" tactics of DHS, he added: "But it's this
other thing that's going on where people are
wearing camouflage uniforms, with no
identification about who they are, claiming to be
protecting federal buildings, when in fact they're
going blocks and blocks away from federal
buildings to do things like throw people into vans
and arrest them without telling them why they're
being arrested, and then keeping them for hours
before letting them go. That is not something that
is acceptable in the state of Illinois."
Reports claim that both the mayor and governor
agreed to federal forces in part because U.S.
Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois,
John Lausch, is "in the loop" on the deployment
and "helping to manage the additional forces."
Lausch is part of the federal forces and working
to secure their control, emphasizing that they
will work "collaboratively." African-American,
Puerto Rican, Mexican-American and Asian
communities and Indigenous peoples all know well
that such "collaboration" actually means brutal
dictate, betrayal and use of force; the
peoples of Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries
know well too what such "collaboration" entails.
The deployment of federal forces in Chicago, like
Portland and the other larger cities Trump plans
to target, are mainly a means to assert federal
control over policing forces and suppress
resistance -- a test of whether the president can
succeed in preserving the union which is wracked
by contending narrow private interests and
divisions. Since 9/11 all the new federal
agencies, including DHS, have been created with
this in mind -- to achieve the domination of the
narrow private interests over the United States
and over the entire world. The clash of different
levels of authority has given rise to determined
resistance and opposition at the state and local
levels and among and within the policing agencies
and military bureaucracy themselves. Many are
operating in the name of the U.S. Constitution and
division of powers despite the fact that the very
developments show that it can no longer contain
and manage the differences within the ranks of the
rulers and between the rulers and the people.
Chicago, July 11, 2020.
Which forces will be loyal to the office of the
president, which will not? Will Trump manage to
keep the presidency under the guise that law and
order will resolve the crisis in the U.S. or will
the ruling class decide that they can better
achieve their aim by finding a better champion who
can prove himself or herself to be stalwart by
uniting the civil, industrial and military
bureaucracies? Will the elections unfold without
violence at home, and without launching a war
abroad? These are the concerns on people's minds
which only the people's movement for empowerment
can deal with in a manner that favours the people
and averts the dangers which lie inherent in the
situation.
The workers' and people's movement in the U.S. is
very experienced. It knows that whether federal
forces are secret or uniformed is not the issue in
the deployment of federal forces into their cities
and communities. They know that state and local
police forces are militarized and their deployment
to suppress their protests is neither better nor
preferable. The fight within the ruling circles to
control the monopoly of the use of force is a
matter of where the decision-making power lies by
establishing whether the presidential office can
control local and state authorities or whether
local and state authorities defy this in favour of
those contending narrow private interests opposed
to Trump.
In the name of averting civil war and preserving
the union, a civil war is in fact taking place on
many fronts in myriad ways. Despite the contention
between state and federal authorities, they both
target the people's resistance movement and seek
to suppress it. Far from taking one side or the
other or both in the civil war between the rulers,
the people are taking their own side.
The developments in the United States reveal one
thing above all else: the need for a
people-centred modern democracy which opposes the
use of force to sort out the problems by
activating the human factor/social consciousness
and uniting the people tirelessly, courageously,
heroically -- as the movement is doing, as the
people in the communities are doing -- speaking
out in their own name, in favour of their
interests and the rights of all.
The growing resistance has made clear that the
people do not accept suppression by either local
or federal police forces and that they do not
accept the brutal attacks repeatedly unleashed by
both. Safety and security rests with defending
rights, with fighting for the human rights to
housing, health care, jobs and a modern democracy
of the people's own making. This is the movement
that empowers the people and defeats the
stranglehold of the oppressors and their rule and
brutality, killings, institutions and impunity.
Trump should "fund mental health services and
support outreach programs. He should fund public
education so that schools can safely reopen. We
know what works and the very last thing we need
are federal agents harassing people and violating
their rights," one Chicago organization said.
"Escalating the level of surveillance and
militarization of our communities does not make us
safer, whether it is by federal agents or the
Chicago Police Department," another said, and
added "Defunding the police and investing in
education, jobs, housing, and mental health care
is what is needed to make us safe."
Security Lies in the Fight for the Rights of All.
This is the principle guiding the actions of the
people across the country.
For
Your Information
The following letter opposing the use of
federal forces in their cities was written on
July 20 by Mayor Ted Wheeler of Portland, Oregon
along with the Mayors of Seattle, Chicago,
Atlanta, Washington, DC and Kansas City,
Missouri, to the head of the Department of
Homeland Security Chad Wolf and U.S. Attorney
General William Barr. More mayors have since
signed on, including those from Los Angeles, San
José, Oakland, Tucson, Denver and Philadelphia.
Dear Attorney General Barr and Acting Secretary
Wolf:
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.
The unilateral deployment of these forces into
American cities is unprecedented and violates
fundamental constitutional protections and tenets
of federalism. As you are well aware, President
Trump threatened to deploy federal forces in
Seattle to "clear out" a protest area and in
Chicago to "clean up" the city. Seattle and
Chicago authorities objected and threatened legal
action to stop such actions. In Washington, DC
outside Lafayette Park, extreme action was taken
by federal law enforcement against protesters
without the Mayor of DC's approval. Acting Deputy
Secretary of Homeland Security Ken Cuccinelli said
in recent days that the administration intends "to
continue not just in Portland but in any of the
facilities that we're responsible for around the
country." This abuse of power cannot continue.
Deployment of federal forces in the streets of
our communities has not been requested nor is it
acceptable. While U.S. Marshals have had
jurisdiction inside federal courthouses for
decades, it is unacceptable and chilling that this
administration has formed and deployed the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security Rapid Deployment
Unit and is sending federal authorities to conduct
crowd control on city streets and detain
individuals. In Portland, their actions have
escalated events and increased the risk of
violence against both civilians and local law
enforcement officers.
In Portland, federal forces have used significant
force against protesters on a nightly basis,
including shooting one individual in the head with
a munition, reportedly fracturing his skull.
Others "snatched" an individual from the street
without proper identification and placed him in an
unmarked vehicle.
These are tactics we expect from authoritarian
regimes -- not our democracy.
In many of our cities, our communities have
expectations for law enforcement, including
identification of officers, training, and recorded
body camera footage, among many other expectations
and policies.
These expectations are being blatantly
disregarded by federal forces. In most cities,
there is also independent oversight of use of
force policies and officers who act outside of
policy. Federal officers have not been trained for
urban community policing, including critical crowd
management and deescalation techniques. There is
no oversight of the actions of federal forces.
Importantly, in Portland they do not even appear
to be complying with a federal court order
regarding the use of tear gas and other crowd
control tools. These actions also jeopardize the
many important ways federal and local law
enforcement must work together to protect our
cities and country.
Furthermore, it is concerning that federal law
enforcement is being deployed for political
purposes. The President and his administration
continually attack local leadership and amplify
false and divisive rhetoric purely for campaign
fodder. Their words and actions have created an
environment of fear and mistrust.
We are a nation of laws and fundamental
constitutional guarantees. The murder of George
Floyd in Minneapolis sparked a national uprising
and reckoning. Millions have joined protests and
exercised their constitutional rights. The
majority of the protests have been peaceful and
aimed at improving our communities. Where this is
not the case, it still does not justify the use of
federal forces. Unilaterally deploying these
paramilitary-type forces into our cities is wholly
inconsistent with our system of democracy and our
most basic values.
Cities across America are battling unprecedented
challenges: the continued threat of COVID-19,
economic devastation, and a new civil rights
movement. Mayors are on the frontlines of solving
these challenges. We need the help of our federal
government, and we have urged a range of actions
to battle COVID-19, provide relief to our workers,
businesses, and cities, and institute more just
policing in America. But the irresponsible actions
of your agencies threaten community safety and
progress on policing in our communities.
We urge you to take immediate action to withdraw
your forces and agree to no further unilateral
deployments in our cities.
Regards,
Jenny A. Durkan
Mayor of Seattle, WA
Keisha Lance Bottoms
Mayor of Atlanta, GA
Lori Lightfoot
Mayor of Chicago, IL
Muriel Bowser
Mayor of Washington, DC
Quinton D. Lucas
Mayor of Kansas City, MO
Ted Wheeler
Mayor of Portland, OR
Demonstrations continue to grow in Portland
despite state repression, July 22, 2020.
Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum filed a
lawsuit against federal forces July 18, asking for
a restraining order to stop federal agents from
making arrests. The suit accuses federal agents of
arresting protesters without probable cause,
whisking them away in unmarked cars and using
excessive force. It is directed against agents
with Homeland Security, including U.S. Customs and
Border Protection, the Federal Protection Service
and the U.S. Marshals Service.
 The lawsuit states
that federal officers "have been using unmarked
vehicles to drive around downtown Portland, detain
protesters, and place them into the officers'
unmarked vehicles, removing them from public
without either arresting them or stating the basis
for an arrest, since at least Tuesday, July 14."
"The identity of the officers is not known, nor
is their agency affiliation, according to videos
and reports that the officers in question wear
military fatigues with patches simply reading
'POLICE,' with no other identifying information,"
the lawsuit continues. It says that such actions
compel citizens who are "reasonably afraid of
being picked up and shoved into unmarked vans --
possibly by federal officers, possibly by
individuals opposed to the protests" from
exercising their First Amendment right to
assembly.
The lawsuit is mainly focussed on the issue of
arrests so it remains to be seen whether even with
an injunction, the violence against the
demonstrators and their suppression by the federal
forces will continue. Rosenblum has so far not
said that her office will take action to arrest
federal officers involved in the illegal arrests
and excessive use of force. To date, only the
District Attorney for Philadelphia has said he
will make such arrests.
A number of Chicago organizations active in the
continuing demonstrations taking place have filed
a lawsuit in an effort to block use of federal
forces for policing and suppressing resistance.
Many are rightly anticipating that whether
directed against protesters, or people in the
community in the name of drugs and crime --
especially African Americans, Puerto Ricans and
Mexican Americans -- federal forces will use
violence against the people of Chicago.
One organizer said the federal strategy for
Chicago uses crime as an excuse to "stifle
righteous rage and anger at the continued killing
of Black people by police." She added, "We will
not be threatened. We will not be coerced into
suppressing our rage, we will continue fighting
back."
 The lawyer filing
the suit said, "The lawsuit is seeking injunctive
relief to restrain federal law enforcement
officers from violating the First and Fourth
amendments of protesters, legal observers and
journalists," all of whom have contended with
police violence against them. The First Amendment
provides for freedom of speech and assembly while
the Fourth Amendment protects against unreasonable
search and seizure.
The lawsuit asks for an injunction to prevent
agents in Chicago from making arrests or detaining
people without probable cause, along with
requiring agents to identify themselves and their
agency and explain why someone is being arrested.
It brings out that the planned deployment of
hundreds of federal agents has already caused some
members of the various organizations to draw back
from protest plans this weekend, "due to the
well-founded fear that they will be brutalized or
kidnapped by federal agents." It concludes:
"Plaintiffs are entitled to this Court's
protection of their constitutional right to
peacefully protest. This Court must check the
unrestrained and unlawful actions of the executive
branch."
The suit names Attorney General William Barr,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) head Chad
Wolf and various officials of DHS, including those
of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs
and Border Protection, and of the Justice
Department, including Drug Enforcement
Administration, as well as U.S. Marshals, FBI and
"unknown agents" of the federal government, all
scheduled to be part of the deployment.
To view the full legal complaint, click
here.
(To access articles
individually click on the black headline.)
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