Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf confirmed an investigation is underway into the funding of rioting taking place amid racial justice protests and unrest nationwide and has sent a letter to the Portland mayor urging him to request federal assistance so DHS agents could quell the violence.
“This is something that I have talked to the AG personally about,” Wolf told Fox News’ Tucker Carlson on Monday night, saying that the department is focused on “targeting and investigating the head of these organizations, [and] the individuals that are paying for these individuals to move across the country.
“What we know, Tucker, is that we have seen groups and individuals move from Portland to other parts of the country,” he continued.
After telling the story of the RNC member who saw protesters on the plane to DC, Trump was asked by the network for details.
“I’ll tell you some time. It’s under investigation right now,” he said Monday night, also confirming the probe.
In an effort to take on the unrest in Portland specifically, Wolf sent a letter Monday to Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler urging him to “prioritize public safety” by requesting federal assistance so his agents could quell the violence.
“I urge you to prioritize public safety and to request federal assistance to restore law and order in Portland,” Wolf wrote in the letter, obtained by Fox News.
“We are standing by to support Portland. At the same time, President Trump has made it abundantly clear that there will come a point when state and local officials fail to protect its citizens from violence, the federal government will have no choice but to protect our American citizens,” the letter continued.
Wolf explained in the letter that local law enforcement have made 255 arrests and declared 23 riots and unlawful assemblies since July 31.
“Despite this,” Wolf wrote, “you have stood by passively, arguing that the nightly violence ‘will ultimately burn itself out.’ The evidence demonstrates otherwise.”
President Trump said that he believes “some very stupid rich people” are financing the unrest taking place amongst racial justice protests nationwide.
Speaking to Fox News during a wide-ranging interview Monday evening, the commander-in-chief made the remarks while discussing the violence and looting that has overrun cities like Portland, Ore., Kenosha, Wis. and elsewhere in the wake of the mass uprising against police brutality.
Referencing the final night of the Republican National Convention last Thursday, where an violent group walking with demonstrators in Washington DC began accosting prominent guests as they left the festivities, the president told a story from an attendee who flew to the event.
The attendee, according to Trump, traveled to DC “on a plane from a certain city, and in the plane it was almost completely loaded with thugs wearing these dark uniforms, black uniforms with gear and this and that.”
The president declined to identify the RNC attendee who told him the story, but promised he would reveal it “sometime.”
“This person was coming to the Republican National Convention and there were like seven people in the plane [with] this person, and then a lot of people were on the plane to do big damage. This is all happening,” the commander-in-chief continued.
The president added that “people you’ve never heard of, people in the dark shadows” may be facilitating much of the violence and looting in the streets.
“The money is coming from some very stupid rich people [who] have no idea that if their thing ever succeeded…they will be thrown to the wolves like you’ve never seen before.”
Videos posted to social media showed Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and his wife, Kelley, being confronted by dozens of protesters as they tried to walk back to their hotel after President Trump’s GOP convention speech.
DC Metro Police could be seen struggling to keep the angry mob back. Former Federal Reserve nominee Stephen Moore also said he was attacked, saying he found himself in “a very dangerous situation.”
After Paul and his wife were attacked, during which they both said they feared for their lives, the Kentucky senator called on the Justice Department to look into who was funding organized riots.