The incursion of Federal paramilitary police with minimal if any identification into Portland without State and local approval is a sign of what lies ahead not only for the months before the election, but if sociopath and neo-fascist Donald "COVID Donnie" Trump steals a rigged election through voter suppression and other tactics. The Feds are apparently under the direction of the Department of Homeland Security, which has become, under Trump, a facsimile of police state "Internal Security"- style organizations. There are reports that people are literally being grabbed off the street by these paramilitary officers and driven away in unmarked vehicles, believed to be rentals. They are then taken to a holding cell and interrogated. The clear message: stop the protests because they're hurting Dear Leader's poll numbers. From the AP:
"During a visit to Portland earlier Thursday, Homeland Security Acting Secretary Chad Wolf said state and city authorities are to blame for not putting an end to the protests, angering local officials.
Mayor Ted Wheeler and other local officials have said they didn’t ask for help from federal law enforcement and have asked them to leave.
A few hundred people had gathered near the federal courthouse Thursday night, news outlets reported. Police told protesters to leave after announcing they heard some chanting about burning down the building, according to The Oregonian.It's interesting that just a few years ago under President Obama, the far right would have been denouncing this type of action as an attack by "jack booted thugs."
A short time later, federal officers fired rounds and deployed tear gas to break up the crowd. Some protesters remained in the area early Friday and were detained, but it was unclear whether any arrests were made, the newspaper reported." (our emphasis)
This mini-Reichstag moment of creating a pretext to disperse a crowd and then detaining them without cause is what police state authoritarians do. What's happening in Portland now is what we can expect from the Trump regime as he gets more rattled about his failing election prospects. It's also a harbinger of what a second term for an unhinged and unconstrained Trump would be like.
BONUS: Oregon's Governor reacts --
This political theater from President Trump has nothing to do with public safety. The President is failing to lead this nation. Now he is deploying federal officers to patrol the streets of Portland in a blatant abuse of power by the federal government. https://t.co/PdlZkmW0mQ— Governor Kate Brown (@OregonGovBrown) July 16, 2020
UPDATE: This post by Adam Silverman lays out the strategy behind the expected use of Trumpian paramilitary forces in various cities over the next 100 days. Chilling. (h/t to donnah)
(photo: KOIN TV)
