6 big city mayors appeal to Congress to ban forced federal policing

Portland — The mayors of Portland, Oregon, and five other major U.S. cities appealed Monday to Congress to make it illegal for the federal government to deploy militarized agents to cities that don’t want them.

“This administration’s egregious use of federal force on cities over the objections of local authorities should never happen,” the mayors of Portland, Seattle, Chicago, Kansas City, Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Washington wrote to leaders of the U.S. House and Senate.

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty later called for a meeting with Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf to discuss a cease-fire and removal of heightened federal forces from Portland.

Barr to call Portland protests “an assault” on U.S. government

Earlier in the day, a U.S. official said militarized officers would remain in Portland until attacks on a federal courthouse cease — and more officers may soon be on the way.

“It is not a solution to tell federal officers to leave when there continues to be attacks on federal property and personnel,” U.S. Attorney Billy Williams said. “We are not leaving the building unprotected to be destroyed by people intent on doing so.”

Local and state officials said the federal officers are unwelcome.

Federal law enforcement officers block off a street after clearing protesters from the area during a demonstration against police violence and racial inequality in Portland, Oregon, July 27, 2020.

CAITLIN OCHS/REUTERS

Ohio State University law professor Peter Shane told CBS News’ Graham Kates that federal agents should only be deployed in U.S. cities to enforce local laws if they’re invited to do so by local authorities.

“There’s no kind of overarching statutory authority for federal agencies, in general, to send federal officers to assist in local law enforcement,” Shane said. “If there is a request for federal help, the federal government can provide that help, but there has to be a request.”

Portland has had nightly protests for two months since the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May. President Donald Trump said he sent federal agents to Portland to halt the unrest, but state and local officials said they are making the situation worse.

Mr. Trump’s deployment of the federal officers over the July 4 weekend stoked the Black Lives Matter movement. The number of nightly protesters had dwindled to perhaps less than 100 right before the deployment, and now has swelled to the thousands.

Early Monday, U.S. agents repeatedly fired tear gas, flash bangs and pepper balls at protesters outside the federal courthouse in downtown Portland. Some protesters had climbed over the fence surrounding the courthouse, while others shot fireworks, banged on the fence and projected lights on the building.

Mr. Trump said on Twitter that federal properties in Portland “wouldn’t last a day” without the presence of the federal agents. In another tweet, late Monday night, the president called the protesters, “sick and deranged Anarchists & Agitators who our great men & women of Law Enforcement easily control, but who would destroy our American cities.”

The majority of people participating in the daily demonstrations have been peaceful. But a few have been pelting officers with objects and trying to tear down fencing protecting the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse.

Williams, whose office is inside the courthouse, called on peaceful protesters, community and business leaders and people of faith to not allow violence to occur in their presence and to leave downtown before violence starts. He said federal agents have made 83 arrests.

Demonstrations in support of racial justice and police reform in other cities around the U.S. were marred by violence over the weekend. Protesters set fire to an Oakland, California, courthouse; vehicles were set ablaze in Richmond, Virginia; an armed protester was shot and killed in Austin, Texas; and two people were shot and wounded in Aurora, Colorado, after a car drove through a protest.

The U.S. Marshals Service has lined up about 100 people they could send to hotspots, either to strengthen forces or relieve officers who have been working for weeks, agency spokesperson Drew Wade said.

Kris Cline, principal deputy director of Federal Protective Service, said an incident commander in Portland and teams from the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice discuss what force is needed every night.

Cline refused to discuss the number of officers currently present or if more would be arriving.

Some protesters have accused Wheeler of hypocrisy for speaking out against the federal presence because, under his watch, Portland police have used tear gas and other riot-control weapons on protesters, including peaceful ones.

Cline said Portland police should take over the job of dispersing protesters from the courthouse area from the federal officers.

“If the Portland Police Bureau were able to do what they typically do, they would be able to clear this out for this disturbance and we would leave our officers inside the building and not be visible,” Cline said.

He said relations between the federal officers, some of whom live in Portland, and city police were good.