A U.S. judge has ruled against Oregon, which sought to restrain federal officers’ actions during daily protests in Portland that have often spiraled into violence.
The presence and actions of federal officers in Portland have raised concerns of a possible constitutional crisis on the ground that the agents have been deployed without local consent.
U.S. District Judge Michael Mosman ruled Friday that the state lacked standing to sue on behalf of protesters. The state lawsuit sought to restrict federal agents' actions when they arrest people, including prohibiting federal agents from detaining protesters without probable cause.
The protests against racial injustice and police brutality pit local officials against the Trump administration and have increased the nation’s political tensions.
Disturbances erupted again Friday with protesters clashing with agents who were dressed in fatigues and were positioned behind a steel fence by a federal courthouse, firing tear gas. Agents said they were hit with projectiles and lasers and forced protesters away from the building after declaring an unlawful assembly.
Friday’s events came a day after another court ruling over the Portland protests. A different federal judge Thursday blocked U.S. agents from arresting or using physical force against journalists and legal observers at demonstrations. That case was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon.
Earlier this week, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler was among a group of protesters who were tear-gassed when federal agents broke up a protest at the courthouse.
According to the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, policing is a state power, not the authority of the federal government.
“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people,” the amendment states.
Wheeler has said he wants the agents to leave, calling their presence an abuse of federal authority and an incitement for violence.
Federal officers use chemical irritants and projectiles to disperse protesters at the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse in Portland, Oregon, July 24, 2020.
Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz on Thursday announced an investigation into the use of force by federal agents in Portland and Washington, where tear gas was used to clear an area across from the White House last month before President Donald Trump crossed the street to stand in front of a church.
Also Thursday, Department of Homeland Security Inspector General Joseph Cuffari announced an investigation into allegations of improper behavior by DHS law enforcement in Portland recently.
Demonstrators have marched in Portland every day in response to the May 25 death of George Floyd, a Black man, while in police custody in Minneapolis. Some protests have led to vandalism and other crimes.
Elsewhere, federal law enforcement agents are also being dispatched to Chicago, Illinois, after a surge in gang violence that has left about 100 dead in the last several weeks. Agents are also being sent to Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Kansas City, Missouri. The deployment to these three cities is part of what has been dubbed “Operation Legend” to fight violent crime.
The mayors of these three cities and 12 others have sent a letter to federal authorities calling for the immediate withdrawal of their forces and to “agree to no further unilateral deployments in U.S. cities.”
Trump has emphasized “law and order” as he finds himself fighting for re-election in November against former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee.
David Chipman, a senior policy adviser at the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, told VOA that when he was an agent for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, “I was proud to work with local leaders when they needed help righting wrongs.”
Chipman said Trump’s recent actions in Portland and his statements about problems in other cities “make clear he thinks federal law enforcement are his personal chess pieces for partisan power grabs.”
VOA’s Steve Herman contributed to this report.