Federal law enforcement officers have used unmarked vehicles to detain protesters in Portland, according to news reports.
Videos shared online show officers driving up to …
Federal law enforcement officers have used unmarked vehicles to detain protesters in Portland, according to news reports.
Videos shared online show officers driving up to people, detaining them without explanation, then driving off, Oregon Public Broadcasting first reported.
Mark Pettibone,29, told the Washington Post and OPB that he was among those protesters grabbed off the streets of Portland. Pettibone said he was heading home from a protest with a friend early Wednesday morning when several men in green military fatigues jumped out of an unmarked gray van.
“I was terrified,” Pettibone told the Post. “It seemed like it was out of a horror/sci-fi, like a Philip K. Dick novel. It was like being preyed upon.”
He said officers placed him in a holding cell in a federal courthouse, where he was read his Miranda rights. After Pettibone, who did not respond to calls from USA TODAY, declined to answer questions, he was released, he told the Post.
In a statement Friday, the U. S. Customs and Border Protection confirmed that it detained a protester but disputed accounts that it did so without reason. The agency, which did not name Pettibone, said agents had information about a person suspected of assaulting federal agents or destroying federal property.
« Once CBP agents approached the suspect, a large and violent mob moved towards their location. For everyone’s safety, CBP agents quickly moved the suspect to a safer location for further questioning, » the department said, adding that agents identified themselves and were wearing the agency’s insignia.
The statement did not address the use of unmarked vans.
Protests in Oregon’s largest city following the police killing of George Floyd have continued for 47 days. The Trump administration has sent federal officers from multiple agencies to the city, and tensions escalated after an officer with the U. S. Marshals Service fired a less-lethal round at a protester’s head on July 11, critically injuring him.
The heavy federal presence has drawn criticisms from Democratic lawmakers, local leaders and civil rights groups.
