‘Secret Police in Our Streets’: Camouflaged Federal Officers in Unmarked Vans Arrest Protesters in Portland

[Valin]

Law And Crime

Jerry Lambe

July 17th, 2020

Federal law enforcement officers clad in camouflage uniforms and body armor — without any visible identification — have been using unmarked vans to grab and detain protesters in Portland. That’s according to reporting by Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) on Thursday evening.

According to the report, the officers were predominantly sourced from the U.S. Marshals Special Operations Group and Customs and Border Patrol’s Tactical Unit (BORTAC). They were sent to the area with orders to protect federal property amid ongoing protests against police brutality. However, videos and witness accounts provided to OPB and several other news outlets show the officers detaining people who are not near any federal property and putting them in unmarked rental minivans.

Protester Mark Pettibone told OPB he was walking home from the demonstration when “four or five” camouflaged men jumped out of a black minivan and grabbed him, threw him in the vehicle, and pulled his beanie over his head so he couldn’t see where he was being taken.

“Blinded by his hat, in an unmarked minivan full of armed people dressed in camouflage and body armor who hadn’t identified themselves, Pettibone said he was driven around downtown before being unloaded inside a building. He wouldn’t learn until after his release that he had been inside the federal courthouse,” the report stated.

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July 17 2020

[Valin]

And Now A Word From Our Progressive Friends.

July 17 2020

 

Bonus

 

Edited July 18, 2020 by Valin
Wrong Link Earlier

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Related..............

 

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WATCH: Chicago Police Release Video Of ‘Antifa’ Using Protest As Cover, Changing To All Black, Arming Against Cops

CPD is now investigating whether a violent confrontation between protesters and police was pre-planned.

Emily Zanotti

Jul 21, 2020 

 

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Rioters Set Fire to Federal Courthouse in Portland

Mairead McArdle

July 23 2020

Rioters in Portland set fire to a federal courthouse Wednesday night as nightly violence continues to rock the city and local officials call for federal law enforcement agents deployed by the Trump administration to leave.

More than 1,000 protesters congregated near the Justice Center and Federal Courthouse downtown and threw incendiary devices over the fence around the federal courthouse, which resulted in a large fire. Protests and rioting in Portland have been nearly constant since the May 25 death of George Floyd that sparked national outrage and demonstrations across the country.

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Meanwhile MSNBC Portland

CNN Portland

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Judge denies Oregon push to limit US agents during arrests as protests continue

AP

July 24 2020

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A U.S. judge on Friday denied an order sought by Oregon’s top law enforcement officer to restrict federal agents’ actions when they arrest people during nightly protests that have roiled Portland and pitted local officials against the Trump administration.

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U.S. District Judge Michael Mosman said the state lacked standing to sue on behalf of protesters because of the lawsuit was a “highly unusual one with a particular set of rules.”

The state sued on behalf of its residents and was seeking a restraining order not for injuries that had already happened but to prevent injuries by federal agents in the future. That combination makes the standard for granting such a motion very narrow, and Oregon did not prove it had standing in the case, Mosman wrote.

Legal experts who reviewed the case before the ruling warned that he could reject it on those grounds. A lawsuit from an individual who alleged federal agents violated their freedom of speech or rights against unconstitutional search and seizure would have a much higher chance of success, Michael Dorf, a professor of constitutional law at Cornell University, said ahead of the ruling.

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[Valin]

And Now The Official Line