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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsCharles P Pierce: The Authoritarian Operation in Portland Is Only a Dress Rehearsal
A major American city is being softly Pinocheted in broad daylight.
BY CHARLES P. PIERCE
JUL 17, 2020
Portland, Oregon police officers confront protesters on the evening of July 4. Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Pardon me for being this uncivil this early in the morning but, seriously, what in the FCK is this shit? From Oregon Public Broadcasting:
Federal law enforcement officers have been using unmarked vehicles to drive around downtown Portland and detain protesters since at least July 14. Personal accounts and multiple videos posted online show the officers driving up to people, detaining individuals with no explanation of why they are being arrested, and driving off. The tactic appears to be another escalation in federal force deployed on Portland city streets, as federal officials and President Donald Trump have said they plan to quell nightly protests outside the federal courthouse and Multnomah County Justice Center that have lasted for more than six weeks.
Federal officers have charged at least 13 people with crimes related to the protests so far, while others have been arrested and released, including Pettibone. They also left one demonstrator hospitalized with skull fractures after shooting him in the face with so-called less lethal munitions July 11. Officers from the U.S. Marshals Special Operations Group and Customs and Border Protections BORTAC, have been sent to Portland to protect federal property during the recent protests against racism and police brutality. But interviews conducted by OPB show officers are also detaining people on Portland streets who arent near federal property, nor is it clear that all of the people being arrested have engaged in criminal activity. Demonstrators like OShea and Pettibone said they think they were targeted by federal officers for simply wearing black clothing in the area of the demonstration.
LEOs in camo? Unmarked vehicles? Disappearing people off the street without charge? Detention in something far too close to a police black site? (Ask some folks in Chicago how those work out.) I always knew I missed something not growing up in Santiago.
Pettibone did not escape the federal officers. I am basically tossed into the van, Pettibone said. And I had my beanie pulled over my face so I couldnt see and they held my hands over my head. Pettibone and OShea both said they couldnt think of anything they might have done to end up targeted by law enforcement. They attend protests regularly but they said they arent instigators. They dont spray paint buildings, shine laser pointers at officers or do anything else other than attend protests, which law enforcement have regularly deemed unlawful assemblies. Blinded by his hat, in an unmarked minivan full of armed people dressed in camouflage and body armor who hadnt identified themselves, Pettibone said he was driven around downtown before being unloaded inside a building. He wouldnt learn until after his release that he had been inside the federal courthouse.
Why in the hell is this not a bigger story? A major American city is being softly Pinocheted in broad daylight. And, if we know one thing, if this president* and his administration* get away with this, it will only get worse. Youd have to be out of your mindor comatose since the Fall of 2016not to suspect that this could be a dry run for the kind of general urban mobilization at which the president* has been hinting since this summer's protests began.
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empedocles
(15,751 posts)Alex4Martinez
(2,199 posts)CanonRay
(14,141 posts)gratuitous
(82,849 posts)But neither the mayor nor the governor has the authority to order federal troops around; that's solely the Trump administration's call. Trump has made it clear that he's going ahead with his invasion and occupation of an American city, firing on citizens, gassing groups of them, and abducted them off the street.
CanonRay
(14,141 posts)and not allow them to roam the streets. This is an attack on the sovereignty of the State of Oregon.
KPN
(15,677 posts)will regret they ever pulled this stunt.
Blecht
(3,803 posts)In an uncharacteristically harsh statement, Brown responded to Trump's deployment of federal officers to quell Portland's protests against police violence. Those officers sent one demonstrator to the hospital July 11 with a munition to the face.
"This political theater from President Trump has nothing to do with public safety," Brown said. "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."
More:
Brown said she spoke to Wolf and told him to remove officers from Portland streets.
"I told acting Secretary Wolf that the federal government should remove all federal officers from our streets," Brown said. "His response showed me he is on a mission to provoke confrontation for political purposes. He is putting both Oregonians and local law enforcement officers in harm's way. This, coming from the same president who used tear gas to clear out peaceful protesters in Washington, D.C., to engineer a photo opportunity."
Brown accused the president of provoking violence in order to appear tough on crime to suburban voters. "Trump is looking for a confrontation in Oregon in the hopes of winning political points in Ohio or Iowa," she said.
That appears to be a correct assessment: The federal crackdown on Portland is getting approving airplay on Fox News and other conservative media, and Trump has pledged to increase federal action if liberal cities don't make arrests of protesters who damage property. Meanwhile, Trump trails Joe Biden by 10 percentage points in reelection polls.
Bev54
(10,088 posts)and guard the protesters and arrest and charge the federal brutes for failing to announce themselves, and with kidnapping. Most of all get the damn media in there to show it to the world.
McKim
(2,412 posts)Portlands mayor and Oregons governor have both said publicly to The Oregonian that they dont want the federal troops here. Bless their hearts!
JackInGreen
(2,975 posts)Because most of the folks being arrested would be labeled 'far left'. Check Unicorn Riot, or Robert Evans on Twitter for good info.
Bev54
(10,088 posts)It is wrong on so many levels and it needs to be stopped by any means.
GeorgeGist
(25,326 posts)bucolic_frolic
(43,476 posts)Why isn't this similar to Waco, or Ruby Ridge?
mtngirl47
(992 posts)Or the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge?
dalton99a
(81,700 posts)cwydro
(51,308 posts)Why is no one doing anything?
Wednesdays
(17,465 posts)It wouldn't be too big a stretch to imagine people being picked up and mysteriously "disappeared," like in the Great Soviet Purge.
erronis
(15,460 posts)MagickMuffin
(15,976 posts)We were told they were ALL suicides, but why would they choose such public places to hang themselves?
My first thoughts upon hearing about this, was they were kidnapped and lynched.
CanonRay
(14,141 posts)telling her to use the State Police or National Guard to get this conduct to cease immediately.
enough
(13,270 posts)ooky
(8,933 posts)bobbieinok
(12,858 posts)Hiawatha Pete
(1,809 posts)Criminals arrest YOU!
bucolic_frolic
(43,476 posts)illegals in cages, citizens in reeducation camps, COVID patients in ICU quarantine.
It's a family friendly operation. Unless it's your family.
Hiawatha Pete
(1,809 posts)Champp
(2,114 posts)UTUSN
(70,783 posts)wnylib
(21,765 posts)to be protested loudly and frequently across the country in mass demonstrations to prevent them from spreading and escalating. Our best defense against this spreading is pushback NOW to show that such tactics will not be carried out easily. This is a dry run. It WILL spread if they get away with it.
Organize groups around the country to push back on prevrnting people from being terrorized by federal kidnappers.
I often wondered why Germans who did not support the Nazi roundups of people did not gather to protect families and individuals from being taken from their homes. Fear, of course, and being outnumbered by armed SS. But if they had formed protest groups earlier on, they could have made it harder to do. They did form secret groups to hide and protect people, and smuggle them to safety, but that kind of protection would not work in what is happening now.
Nazis targeted specific groups. Today's kidnappings in Portland are aimed at random people to terrorize protesters. Maybe we need to think about how to deal with these Pinochet style terrorist tactics aimed at random people.
Johnny2X2X
(19,254 posts)Gestapo like military disappearing citizens with no warrant and no cause is the end of our Democracy.
cp
(6,676 posts)This does seem like a dress rehearsal for post-Nov. 3, if not sooner.
CaptainTruth
(6,616 posts)This looks like the exact scenario they've been talking about, so where are they? Why aren't they standing up to defend the Constitutional rights they claim to hold so dear? They're nowhere to be found. I guess it really isn't about Constitutional rights for them, it's just about the guns.
I know one thing, if unknown idiots in camo tried to grab me & put me in a van I would fight for my life with every tool I had at my disposal.
Anyone who has taken self-defense training (specifically kidnapping) or studied the statistics of survival rates of victims who ended the attack at the initial location (where the kidnapping attempt occurred) vs those who were taken to a secondary location knows that if anyone ever tries to kidnap you, you need to do everything you can to end the attempt THEN & THERE. Once the victim is "in the van" & taken to a secondary location survival rates drop dramatically.
If these morons are kidnapping people without identifying themselves & following proper arrest procedures, they are doing so at their own peril.
bucolic_frolic
(43,476 posts)is well grounded in political philosophy from the mid-1600s. It is the basis for the Fifth Amendment, that individuals always possess the right of self-defense, and are not required to incriminate themselves.
It is even the basis for modern "defense of castle" and "stand your ground" laws.
Hoping the governors, the ACLU, member of Congressional delegations step up on this issue.
usaf-vet
(6,233 posts)...... could getaway. They stole state elections (magic 7000 ballots) to flip a race. They destroyed the teacher union. They stacked the courts with RWNJ. They gerrymandered the state to keep it repugs only in power.
They were instrumental in helping Trump and the Russians steal a federal election.
They gave BILLIONs to a foreign company FOXCON to build a manufacturing plant to employ tens of thousands of new workers. In that give away they took private land by eminent domain, they violated the Great Lakes Compact protecting the Great Lakes waters.
They stacked the state Supreme Court so they are guaranteed to aways win legal disputes. By pushing the "final" decision up to the state Supreme Court which the repugs OWN.
Then when they LOST the Governor's office the repug controlled legislators wrote NEW laws to strip away powers from the newly elected Democratic Governor. When the Governor vetoed their "new" laws the repug controlled legislature overrode the veto.
These are SOME of the publicly known things they have done to Wisconsin. It has taken 10 years plus so the one thing you can say about the repugs is they are patient and they have and utilize long-range plans. One devious step at a time. And there is BIG MONEY backing each and every step of their plan. In the case of Wisconsin, it was at least KOCH money.
So warning Oregon if your state has been targeted as a "test" state the will steal it by hook or by crook.
Pepsidog
(6,254 posts)pwb
(11,308 posts)Defund that storm trooper shit is fine with me.
Evolve Dammit
(16,817 posts)Bernardo de La Paz
(49,069 posts)onetexan
(13,079 posts)Rhiannon12866
(206,721 posts)Last edited Sat Jul 18, 2020, 02:48 AM - Edit history (1)
onetexan
(13,079 posts)Rhiannon12866
(206,721 posts)I'll post the video if and when it's available - and Ali Velshi is reporting on it as well right now. He's in for Lawrence O'Donnell tonight.
Rhiannon12866
(206,721 posts)Rhiannon12866
(206,721 posts)Covered it too, with both the mayor and the congressman, so I included them, too.
Unmarked Federal Troops Snatching Protesters Raise Local Alarm - Rachel Maddow - MSNBC
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1017593891
stillcool
(32,626 posts)is little sense of alarm. Almost like it's happening in another country.
onetexan
(13,079 posts)moondust
(20,025 posts)Xi don't like the "bad image" and financial disruption of protests and Donny don't either?
Neema
(1,151 posts)This is going to keep getting uglier unless the trump regime is stopped.