President Donald Trump has announced that the U.S. Department of Justice will send a “surge of federal law enforcement” into American cities run by “extreme politicians.”
July 28 (UPI) — President Donald Trump has announced that the U. S. Department of Justice will send a “surge of federal law enforcement” into American cities run by “extreme politicians” who are on an “anti-police crusade,” including Chicago, Kansas City, Mo., Albuquerque, Cleveland, Detroit and Milwaukee. Those cities may soon see legal battles like the ones in Portland, Ore., where four notable lawsuits challenge the actions of federal agents who, under the auspices of the Department of Homeland Security, were purportedly sent to protect federal property on the July 4th weekend and still remain. As a state and local government law scholar, I believe a surge of hundreds of federal officers into cities throughout the United States would represent an unprecedented expansion of the role of the federal government into local police matters. Together, the Portland lawsuits ask the court to delineate, and enforce, constitutional limits on the federal government’s ability to override state and local law enforcement and use police tactics that violate protesters’ constitutional rights. Extended protests Since May 29, Portlanders have marched, sung, chanted and stood together in Portland to demand racial justice and condemn police violence against Black Americans. Local officials and observers describe a fringe minority of protesters pointing laser pointers at officers, throwing cans, breaking windows and setting trash bins and bags of garbage on fire, and shooting fireworks at the federal courthouse. One person was arrested for allegedly attacking a federal officer with a hammer. In response to some of these actions, DHS has sent paramilitary-style units to Portland. The president has characterized the operation as limited to protection of federal property and personnel and enforcement of federal laws — but also as restoring public safety after liberal politicians “have put the interests of criminals above the rights of law-abiding citizens.” State and local officials and observers say those federal agents are detaining and arresting innocent protesters. They also say federal officers have fired non-lethal rounds, pepper balls and tear-gas canisters at peaceful protesters, journalists, medics and legal-rights observers. In a court filing, the city says the presence of heavily armed federal agents is not keeping order, but rather “escalating violence, inflaming tensions in our city and harming Portlanders.
