They’ve devised ways to counter rubber bullets, tear gas and a reinforced fence around the federal courthouse. Some of those protesters are taking what they learned facing similar tactics from Portland police and continuing to hone them in their resistance to federal force, too. Demonstrations last week consistently drew thousands of people. In the days after Pettibone’s arrest, as a video of another person arrested in a similar way in downtown Portland went viral, crowds outside the federal courthouse swelled. As far as I know, if mistakes were made, it hasn't been repeated." "The van arrests that happened overnight on July 14 - after that, everything went to hell," a federal law enforcement officer stated. Perhaps the largest outcry came after OPB reported on the case of Mark Pettibone, who was pulled into an unmarked vehicle by federal law enforcement during the early morning hours of July 15 with little explanation. Related: Federal Law Enforcement Use Unmarked Vehicles To Grab Protesters Off Portland Streets But their actions have been widely criticized. Their stated goal is to protect the federal courthouse and other federal buildings and personnel. "Crowds were very small and the incident with La Bella - that was a flare up point that the government tried to deescalate," one federal law enforcement source stated.įederal law enforcement officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record, and because they said the nature of the situation in Portland is a “crisis” being watched and managed from the highest levels of the federal government.Īs of Tuesday there were 114 federal law enforcement officers in Portland “protecting federal facilities” as part of an executive order President Trump signed in June, according to court documents. Countless others have been injured by impact munitions used on a nightly basis. David required surgery to repair a broken arm and La Bella was hospitalized for two weeks with a skull fracture. Federal officers also faced sharp criticism for beating Navy-veteran Christopher David, who had not threatened officers in any way. Marshals shot Donavan La Bella, 26, in the head with a crowd control weapon. “Anytime you shoot someone in the face and beat them with a baton, it’s going to be criticized,” said one federal law enforcement official. The beefed up federal presence comes at the same time federal officials are internally acknowledging they have contributed to the quick escalation between law enforcement and groups of protesters, which had dwindled to a couple hundred people or less earlier this month. Rather than quell the protests as was the intent, it’s served to reenergize and strengthen the city’s protest movement. The federal response has so far sparked four civil rights lawsuits, a Department of Justice inspector general investigation, proposed legislation in Congress limiting the role of federal law enforcement in American cities, and has injured a number of protesters.
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