Thousands protest in downtown Portland Monday; federal officers again respond with force

[riversedge]

Source: OregonLive


Updated Jul 21, 2020; Posted Jul 20, 2020


Portland Protests continue for 54th night

By Ted Sickinger| The Oregonian/OregonLive and Alex Hardgrave | The Oregonian/OregonLive

Portland parent groups marched in droves to Monday night to join downtown protests in response to the repeated and nightly use of force by federal agents on demonstrators.

Portlanders first started protesting police violence against Black Americans in late May. It wasn’t until 31 days later that federal officers were first seen at the nightly demonstrations. In the weeks since, federal agents have used less-lethal munitions and gas on protesters numerous times.

Federal officers again set off gas and shot projectiles towards demonstrators gathered early Tuesday morning. The nearly hour-long confrontation began after midnight. Hundreds of people had packed into the courthouse entrance, and some people near the front line tore off plywood attached to the building. Federal officers responded in force.

Their actions have drawn scrutiny from Oregon officials and support from President Donald Trump. The president again praised federal law enforcement Monday, saying they were doing a fantastic job in Portland. Trump said he planned to replicate the response in other major U.S. cities led by Democratic mayors.

Monday night’s demonstrations started around 9 p.m. Two groups, called the Wall of Moms and PDXDadPod, marched from the riverfront to Justice Center. The jail is at the heart of nightly protests. Two federal buildings sit on either side of it.

Even before the parents’ groups arrived, more than 300 people had gathered near the downtown jail. Young Black community leaders used a megaphone to ask, “Whose lives matter?” Hundreds of people responded, “Black lives matter!”

The crowd roared when the parents’ march of several hundreds of people arrived just before 9 p.m. and joined the chant. Most were women wearing yellow shirts. One person held a sign that said, “Hey feds, you need to think about your sad choices — Mom.”......................................

Read more: https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2020/07/portland-protests-continue-for-54th-night-amid-controversy-surrounding-federal-officers-presence.html

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Moms and dads assemble to protect Portland protesters


https://www.koin.com/news/protests/portland-protests-justice-center-federal-courthouse-night-53/


"We are there for the long haul," said one mom

by: Hannah Ray Lambert, Jacquelyn Abad

Posted: Jul 20, 2020 / 07:54 PM PDT / Updated: Jul 20, 2020 / 11:19 PM PDT

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Portland’s parents have to come to the aid of protesters as the city heads into its 53rd consecutive night of demonstrations against systemic racism and police.

The self-described Wall of Moms lined the fence around the Mark O. Hatfield Federal Courthouse Sunday evening in an effort to protect protesters. It was the group’s second appearance at the downtown demonstrations. Several of the moms also helped people wash their eyes after federal officers deployed tear gas and other crowd-control munitions.

They can now be found on social media at @WallofMoms.

“We come out here in yellow and large numbers,” said Edie, a protester. ...........................


A Worried Citizen
@ThePubliusUSA
·
23m
The moms in Portland are truly inspirational.

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[ananda]

1. This protester persistence is great!

Don't give up, protesters!

[Iliyah]

2. Gosh, some of the scenes remind me of pictures of the great . .

civil rights movement in the 1960's.

[iemitsu]

38. Except there are far more white people involved in today's demonstrations.

The only thing that gives me any hope of success.

[beachbumbob]

3. need to find where the Federal agents are being housed and bring the protest to those

establishments. with lots of videos and pictures

[gab13by13]

4. Definitely not a Holiday Inn Express.

[iemitsu]

39. Probably staying at a Gordon Sondland establishment.

Keep the money in the family.

[FarPoint]

5. Yeah....

good thinking!

[louzke9]

12. The ONLY LEGAL Excuse Trump has.....

to send troops UNINVITED by local authorities is to PROTECT federal property. So don't give Trump ANY excuse to use those agents. Protest day and night, but stay away from federal property. That just plays right into Trump's hand. Its a campaign ploy/publicity stunt CRAFTED by Trump. A SCARE TACTIC to convince voters Trump is the "Law and Order" President and the only one who can stop the looting and property damage we see in videos. Don't play along and his stunt FAILS.

[yellerpup]

16. Are we sure these unidentified men are Federal agents?

Or are they an Eric Prince unit in disguise? Could this be a tryout for a private army? I know this is tin-foil-y but why aren't they identified?

[Fiendish Thingy]

18. DHS has confirmed they are feds nt

[Wuddles440]

21. Considering the daily....

deluge of lies from this administration and its cabal of criminals, can you really trust the veracity of such a statement? It's almost a certainty that Prince is the man behind the curtain - at the very least he's responsible for planning and coordinating these operations.

[ArizonaLib]

24. I agree - I don't think he is at home in his rocking chair watching Fox 'News'

Prince has been busiest under Trump and anyone or any organization can be paid federal money and called a 'federal resource'. I hope no one is making the mistake of believing anything that comes out of this administration.

[Fiendish Thingy]

31. Any evidence? Let's try and stay in the reality based community please. Nt

[KPN]

53. Here ya go ... reality.

https://upload.democraticunderground.com/100213796641

[EX500rider]

49. "It's almost a certainty that Prince is the man behind the curtain"

Somehow i doubt DHS/Border Patrol Swat teams take orders their from him. They do have a chain of command.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

22. Feds deputized two days ago from Prince's merry bands of thugs?

[Fiendish Thingy]

30. Any evidence? Nt

[Bernardo de La Paz]

36. On this specific point, no evidence, purely idle speculation. Hence careful use of question mark. nt

[mitch96]

50. Bingo!! Rachel just had the previous DHS head on the show and he confirmed that the

Govt protection squad are contractors. Like you said Eric Prince comes to mind.. tRump appointed DeVos is sister to Eric Prince..
m

[KPN]

32. Is DHSA believable?

[Fiendish Thingy]

40. Any evidence to the contrary? Let's try and stay in the reality based community nt

[KPN]

41. Talk about staying in the reality based community! Geesh!

[Fiendish Thingy]

44. This administration is brazenly Open about their crimes

Plenty of evidence right out in the open without resorting to Q-Anon style CT.

[KPN]

48. My point.

[Wuddles440]

45. With all due respect...

What's your "evidence" that Cuccinelli is being truthful about the affiliation of these paramilitary personnel? Thirty years of serving in federal law enforcement tells me he's lying...that and the over 20,000 false statements that have spewed from the lips of the Orange Anus. Some advice - it's hazardous to your health and welfare to live in the "reality' that they've created. Trust nothing from this administration!

[Fiendish Thingy]

47. What is the motivation to falsely claim invaders in Portland are CBP/DHS agents?

What purpose would it serve to lie about the affiliation of the Portland invaders? To say they are CBP when they are actually Erik Prince’s mercenaries?

Please note the recently leaked Internal memo from Chad Wolf stating his officers aren’t trained to handle crowd control - why would he lie in a private memo if the paramilitary agents in Portland weren’t actually his agents?

Like I said, despite Trump’s thousands of lies, this administration is brazenly Open about their crimes.

[Demsrule86]

54. read today that they are not Feds but contract people from Blackwater and other

security firms...explains their roid rage.

[mitch96]

29. "I know this is tin-foil-y"

I'm not tin floil-y either and it makes perfect sense to me.. Contractors get away with murder..
m

[yellerpup]

37. That would be just what this administration is looking for.

Get away with murder.

[Bayard]

17. Is there a trump hotel in Portland?

I worry about when another Kent State is going to happen.

[KPN]

33. No. Butthere's a couple of Gordon Sondland hotels.

[thecrow]

23. Any Trump hotels near Portland?

Charge them $650 a night and bill taxpayers?
Priceless.

[riversedge]

46. well, the Port FD said the Feds could not use their parking lot as a staging area anymore.......

[eppur_se_muova]

6. Why ?

Why respond with force ?

People have a right to protest. Only an authoritarian government responds in knee-jerk fashion by oppressing dissent. Outside of protecting statues of traitors and racists, what's the excuse for trying to impose "control" by brute force ? If this is the only way our government can respond, we need a new government.

[beachbumbob]

13. trump/gop trying to create an election issue, no more, no less

[mike1977]

15. Destruction of property

They started tearing/destroying the courthouse by tearing off plywood and a fence. We have a right to peacefully protest, but not a right to destroy property.

[SunSeeker]

7. The irony is these protests were about to peter out when the feds showed up.

What started out as a George Floyd/ BLM protest is now an enlarged anti-Trump protest. Good going Orange Anus!

[riversedge]

8. Moms and Dads by smart phone lights...........

Beautiful

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[Maxheader]

9. Wonder what the...

neighborhood, township, city, state authorities think about this fed infestation?

The mayor...can he order them out?...the governor? Send the city cops and arrest the lot..

Criminal behavior...at least, citizen assault....

[jaxexpat]

26. "Send the city cops and arrest the lot.."

Were that to happen it would be a milestone, a true game changer.

[dhill926]

35. I think the city police union asked for the feds...

same in Chicago. They're not gonna help, they're part of the problem...

[LeftInTX]

42. Do Police Unions have this power?

[dhill926]

43. that is indeed the question....

[mitch96]

10. "nightly use of force by federal agents on demonstrators. "

Ok a hypothetical question.... What if the governor called out the national guard to protect the citizens of Portland from the feds?????? One NG troop, one mom...One NG troop, one mom...One NG troop, one mom...One NG troop, one mom...One NG troop, one mom...
How far would the feds go?
m

[Fiendish Thingy]

19. Trump has ultimate control over NG nt

[mitch96]

28. What if they refuse??? Take 'em to court? he will be out b4 the legal stuff comes to pass...nt

[JT45242]

11. Arrest the vans taking folks from protests

There is a relatively simple way to stop this.

When a van takes anyone, the local police immediately step in and arrest the drivers.

State charges then are issued with arraignment the next morning
1) Aggravated kidnapping (or whatever the local version is when a firearm is used)
2) Firearms charges
3) Aggravated assault (again throw in a firearm add on)
4) Impersonating a police officer

They can add more. Make certain that they are looking at multiple decades in jail each.

One guy in the car will be allowed to flip for lesser charges if he can produce a written order or email that told them to (a) go to where they were not originally assigned (b) gave them the authority to kidnap civilians. No written orders and they are a rogue force of vigilantes. With written orders that are a violation of their oaths, they should face federal charges as well (we know that won't happen, but it will blow holes in the 'law and order' narrative for what it is: White supremacist rhetoric.)

Then you arrest the guy who issued the order for the above charges and add conspiracy charges at the state level as well. And work your way up the chain. There is little incentive for these guys not to flip all the way up to Barr and whatever sleaze is involved because they will all be state charges with no pardons.

If Erik Prince and his international mercenaries are involved, you may be able to turn some of them over to interpol after they are done serving their very long sentences in Pennsylvania, Oregon, Illinois etc.

Also tell them that the state will be helping the victims with any and all lawsuits regarding their treatment. So every pension dollar they ever earned will be going to victims, their cars, homes, college funds. Make it very public so that if any of these goons wants to follow illegal orders they will know that the costs to themselves and their families will be incalculable.

[SharonClark]

14. I wish you were in charge.

[Fiendish Thingy]

20. That's too complicated- how about just slashing the tires on the van?

How would you get the van to wait for police to come arrest them?

[KPN]

34. As a generality, Portland police are tainted. I saw them up close and personal dealing with

protesters during the Occupy movement while on a business trip to Portland. They were aggressive and took physical action at the slightest provocation. For example, I was standing next to a young protester who stepped off the sidewalk curb with one foot (don't know whether intentionally or accidentally) and two police decked out in black military-like gear knocked him to the pavement immediately, shoved him face down and handcuffed him. After kneeling on him 10 or 15 seconds they yanked him up by his arms and hauled him to a paddy wagon. That was just one incident, the closest at hand that I saw that evening. The crowd was peaceful, banging pots and drums and doing chants. There was no real provocation by the crowd that I witnessed.

At any rate, I doubt whether the Portland Police as a whole will or wold step in on the side of these protesters. Perhaps there are some good ones, but as a whole, no.

[DarleenMB]

25. their actions have "drawn scrutiny."

Well BFD. I want to know WHY the Governor of Oregon and the Congressional representatives and the state legislature have not activated the OREGON NATIONAL GUARD and sent them in to Portland to round up these unidentified, uniformed thugs and jailed every last freaking one of them!

The fact that OUR federal government has invaded one of the States has my hair on fire.

Every time I think trump can't sink any lower he proves me wrong. He is not going to stop until he burns the entire country down.

[NoMoreRepugs]

27. The butthole t-RUMP has woken the sleeping GIANT of Mom's n Dad's protecting their young.

He has really - I mean really FUCKED UP this time. Go to Chicago or NYC DonnieShit4Brains- I double-dog dare ya' - you will not believe what's waiting for you.

[annm4peace]

51. America needs a Coup right now! We need Vets for Peace to storm the White House

What the heck is wrong with Americans??? Haven't we learned about how Hitler came to power?
The solution is to make sure to vote??? Are you kidding me???

Maybe I missed a post or video about it, but Where are the Veterans for Peace members (who aren't protesting in Portland already) ?

The high ranking Veterans for Peace, former State Dept Heads, Generals, Intelligence Officers, Dept of Justice heads, etc.. should be forming a Coup. They should be headed to the White House, the Justice Dept, and CDC.
They should physically remove Trump and his administration and replace Trump with Rep Pelosi and former common sense officials for the other positions, and Dept Heads. And immediately have a group remove the top CDC person and replace them with former CDC...get rid of any residue of Trump.

I'm a peace activist so I don't want any military control but would love Vets for Peace to come in and clean house.

No, Voting isn't gonna save us in time, and it is a joke to think it will.

I wish ret. Lt General Russel Honore and ret. Col Ann Wright would stage a Coup tomorrow.

I'm tired and done with all the previous Dept Heads on CNN and MSNBC being interviewed and writing Opinion pieces.. we need action now.

[usajumpedtheshark]

52. That escalated quickly

such action would probably cause a civil war