Cuccinelli warned DHS would advance its law enforcement components into other American cities “if we get the same kind of intelligence” about threats.
A top Department of Homeland Security official on Monday defended his agency’s presence in Portland, Ore., where reports of unidentifiable security officers taking aggressive action against protesters have drawn national scrutiny.
In an interview on CNN, acting deputy Homeland Security Secretary Ken Cuccinelli claimed the department deployed federal law enforcement to Portland over the July 4 weekend after having received “locally generated” intelligence regarding “planned attacks” on federal facilities.
Cuccinelli said the federal agents have “been there ever since” on a mission to protect those U.S. government buildings, wearing the “very same uniforms” during their time in Portland. “The crowd has seen them every day, marked and so forth,” he added.
Cuccinelli also warned DHS would advance its law enforcement components into other American cities “if we get the same kind of intelligence” about threats to federal facilities or officers, saying: “We would respond the same way.”
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler urged the Trump administration Sunday to call off its federal intervention in the city, accusing the militarized government forces of “sharply escalating the situation” and employing tactics that are “abhorrent” and “completely unconstitutional.”
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown on Sunday likened the federal presence in Portland to “adding gasoline to a fire,” and said she “was very, very clear” with administration officials about the need for DHS officers to retreat from the city.
“The Trump administration needs to stop playing politics with people’s lives,” Brown, a Democrat, said. “We don’t have a secret police in this country. This is not a dictatorship. And Trump needs to get his officers off the streets.”
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Acting deputy Homeland Security Secretary Ken Cuccinelli says the department deployed federal law enforcement to Portland over the July 4 weekend after having received “locally generated” intelligence regarding “planned attacks” on federal facilities https://t.co/fkDadOUPWy
— POLITICO (@politico) July 20, 2020
Navy vet Chris David wanted to talk to police in Portland.
Instead, he was beaten. He hopes the feds still listen:
"That oath of office is essentially swearing loyalty to the Constitution," he says, "and what they're doing is not constitutional anymore"https://t.co/3MnjGWnxdj
— Zane Sparling (@PDXzane) July 19, 2020
Federal police strike protester with baton, use pepper spray and tear gas outside courthouse in Portland pic.twitter.com/VX2xTVaaYq
— Zane Sparling (@PDXzane) July 19, 2020
Portland is how it starts. pic.twitter.com/RgWWRujfqy
— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) July 19, 2020
Trump’s Acting DHS Secretary has no state and local government experience, no military or law enforcement experience, and isn’t a lawyer. His entire career has been in DC as a Hill staffer, an executive branch political appointee, and a lobbyist. https://t.co/I8tJVmYGK3
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) July 20, 2020
I remember the days when conservatives would lose their shit over federalism and the 10th amendment if someone in DC talked like this. https://t.co/kk4bn9zUUX
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) July 20, 2020
#BREAKING: President Trump says he may send "more federal law enforcement" to New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit, Baltimore, Oakland, and other cities to deal with unrest: "In Portland they’ve done a fantastic job." pic.twitter.com/Pe6aDv6AVt
— The Hill (@thehill) July 20, 2020
“Defending anonymous tactical units gassing, beating, and snatching people off the streets of Portland and shoving them into unmarked vans” is a strange hill for conservatism to die on, but such is the era of Trump.
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) July 20, 2020
I’m sure they’ll be greeted as liberators https://t.co/Dnxm6Xmecd
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) July 20, 2020
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