Acting Secretary of Department of Homeland Security Chad Wolf warned the mayor of Portland, Oregon, that failure to take additional actions to quell violence in his city may result in the Trump administration supplanting local and state authorities.
“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,” acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf wrote in a letter to Democratic Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler on Monday.
Trump and DHS officials have offered federal assistance, including federal agents and military personnel, to Democratic Oregon Gov. Kate Brown and Wheeler throughout the three months of riots and violence across downtown Portland. However, elected officials in Oregon have fought the Trump administration, claiming the additional deployment of federal police to defend a federal courthouse only worsened the riots, which commenced following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis in late May.
Portland police have declared riots across the city more than 25 times since late May, with large gatherings occurring nearly every night for three months. Largely peaceful protests that wind down in the late evening are transformed into riots by primarily far-left groups, including antifa, in the early morning. As of July 31, local police had arrested more than 250 people, yet Wheeler in August said the violence would “ultimately burn itself out.”
“The evidence demonstrates otherwise,” Wolf wrote. “You state in your letter that ‘[t]here is no place for looting, arson, or vandalism in our city.’ Unfortunately, you have failed to back up that sentiment with any action. In fact, your inaction has fostered an environment that has fueled senseless violence and destruction night after night.”
Brown announced on Sunday a unified law enforcement plan to surge local and state police into the downtown area, as well as to prosecute all rioters for “serious” criminal acts committed against people and property, a move that Wolf said was needed after state police pulled out from Portland because those arrested were not being prosecuted.
“I encourage you to work with and disabuse the District Attorney of Multnomah County of his refusal to prosecute individuals who have committed such crimes as: interference with a law enforcement officer, rioting, criminal trespass, second-degree disorderly conduct, escape, or a city ordinance violation,” Wolf wrote. “In short, ignoring criminal behavior is no way to protect the citizens of your community, the same citizens who entrusted you to hold elected office.”
DHS employees were deployed to Oregon in late June following physical attacks to the Mark O.Hatfield United States Courthouse downtown, which federal law states must be protected by DHS’s Federal Protective Services officers. The FPS officers had been unable to defend the building from commercial-grade fireworks and arsonists, prompting the deployment of additional federal agents. On July 29, Brown and Wolf separately announced having reached a deal that would result in pulling supplemental DHS personnel from downtown.
More than 100 surged DHS personnel remain on call in Portland. The Pacific Northwest Youth Liberation Front, an anti-capitalist, anti-fascist group led by three teenagers, organized much of the early morning rioting that has resulted in millions of dollars in damage to the city.
