Mayor Marty Walsh joined a dozen other Democratic mayors from across the country Tuesday in calling on the Trump administration to end its practice of…
Mayor Marty Walsh joined a dozen other Democratic mayors from across the country Tuesday in calling on the Trump administration to end its practice of sending federal agents to confront demonstrators, namely in Portland, Oregon, where the officers have clashed with protesters calling for racial justice in recent days.
“While we have no information that Boston is being targeted, I want to make absolutely clear that behavior and that type of so-called ‘help’ is not welcome here in the City of Boston,” Walsh said during a press conference. “It’s being done with no communication and working with no local elected (officials) or no public safety agency in those different cities. It’s being done with no regard for the right of safety of protesters, and it appears to be needlessly escalating the situation.”
The Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security dispatched agents, including the U. S. Marshals Special Operations Group and a U. S. Customs and Border Protection team, to protect federal property in Portland. The city has seen daily demonstrations against systemic racism and police brutality since the death of George Floyd, the Black man killed in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25.
But some agents have been reportedly driving in unmarked vans and taking protesters off streets not near federal buildings and without identifying themselves. Officers have also used tear gas to disperse crowds.
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, who says the agents have only exacerbated the tense situation, has called for the federal government to keep its agents in its buildings or, if not, vacate the city.
The initiative has also led Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum to sue Homeland Security and the Marshals Service in federal court, arguing agents have grabbed people off city streets “without warning or explanation, without a warrant, and without providing any way to determine who is directing this action.
