Steve Schmidt is asking questions about Portland, Oregon

[bucolic_frolic]

Link to tweet

Steve Schmidt
@SteveSchmidtSES
Portland Oregon. The Governor of Oregon should deploy the State Police and the National Guard to arrest on site any heavily armed Paramilitary forces who are operating without ID’s, Badges and snatching Americans off of the street and stuffing them into unmarked vehicles. 1

@SteveSchmidtSES
We live in the UNITED STATES of AMERICA. We are watching a Secret Police forming before our eyes and it is both an abomination and unacceptable. What agencies are these men with? What is their chain of command? What is their jurisdiction? Barr is Attorney General, not the (2)
Steve Schmidt
@SteveSchmidtSES
·
2h
Interior Minister of some thugocracy. Respectfully, where is the ACLU? Where is the outrage of the Democratic House Members that control the purse strings of whatever agency these men belong to? Where is the oversight? Why isn’t this issue being reported out on the front page
Steve Schmidt
@SteveSchmidtSES
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2h
of national news organizations including one that has attached itself to the phrase “Democracy dies in Darkness”? BTW, it certainly does when Federal snatch and grabs by “little green men” draw not so much a whimper of outrage. Why isn’t this footage in the A block of every
Steve Schmidt
@SteveSchmidtSES
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2h
Newscast in America? What is happening here? The fact that Federal Law Enforcement Officers are clad head to toe in camouflaged Military tactical uniforms is outrageous. This is utterly unacceptable in this country. We must not stand for this. We are witnessing an assault on
Steve Schmidt
@SteveSchmidtSES
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2h
Liberty, freedom and our Comstirutionally protected rights. Enough already. Call your member of Congress and demand answers. Who are these men?

[hlthe2b]

1. "Great minds think alike"

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=13766868

[Captain Zero]

2. I'm sure the ACLU is on this.

Probably a Habeus Corpus case or two coming out of this.

[tinrobot]

7. We don't have time to run this through the courts.

It needs to stop NOW.

[soldierant]

52. Apparently - for now - if anyone asks for a lawyer, they are released.

And I've seen it compared to the Easter troubles in Ireland. De Valera said then, "every one snatched meand ten new supporters." In Portland, that may well be true.

No, I am not suggesting we can depend on that. We need to fight this in any way we possibly can.

[JDC]

3. Yet all those freedumb m-f'ers thinks mask wearing is the hill to die on

[lame54]

4. Ok 2nd amendmenters - now is your time

[paleotn]

11. They're still busy.....

changing their underoos. Those unarmed, peaceful protesters scared the ammosexuals something awful. Poor things. They're in no shape to confront....gasp!....actual people with guns.

[roamer65]

33. They love fascism.

This what they want.

I have a warning for them. Be careful what you wish for, you just may get it.

[Maven]

5. This is how civil wars start. nt

[wnylib]

38. Bingo. And therefore, I suspect

it is a deliberate attempt to start one. Would give Benedict Donald his excuse for suspending habeas corpus (Lincoln did it), and declaring a national emergency and martial law. If he wins that move unapposed, he can establish himself as permanent dictator and his spawn as his heirs.

Who would oppose him and how? Where would our military stand? Would it become regular military against hired mercenaries like Eric Prince, plus RW hate militias? Who would fund each side? How would individuals and groups protect themselves and each other?

War is a terrible thing and civil war the most terrible. So how do we nip this now before it goes further?

"All it takes for evil to exist is for good men (and women) to do nothing." Edmund Burke, Irish Statesman.

[Mr.Bill]

64. There are three hundred million

privately owned guns in America, along with as much as several billion rounds of ammunition. And don't think for one minute they are all owned by Trump supporters.

[wnylib]

65. That's reassuring if it ever comes to that,

though I deeply hope that it doesn't.

I do know that RWers are well armed with stockpiled ammunition for their arms. Several RW extremists also have bunkers to hole up in. And they keep track of "liberals" in their communities. But, although several are trained former military, I think they lack central organization and strategic planning.

At any rate, nipping this secret police operation now, before it can grow and spread is essential.

Latest news I've heard on it is that the Oregon AG is suing several federal agencies to get them out of the state. Needs to be followed by prosecution for violation of basic civil rights of those who have been kidnapped by the federal thugs.

[maxsolomon]

6. Posse Comitatus

...unless they're arresting milkshake-tossing, black clad Antifa "Terrorists". Then, NBD.

Right, 2nd Amendment Absolutists?

[summer_in_TX]

53. They're using domestic law enforcement apparently and not the military.

I've heard of Border and Customs Patrol, ICE, and the U.S. Marshalls so far.

So Posse Comitatus doesn't apply. Evil. Diabolically evil.

[druidity33]

57. Um... where did you hear this?

My understanding is no one is REALLY SURE who these forces are. Also, CBP, ICE and the US MArshalls are all Federal aren't they? Why wouldn't Posse apply? It's not The Army but they are part of our Armed Forces (obs not 5 branch part, nevertheless)...

[summer_in_TX]

67. NPR interviewed Ken Cucinelli about it yesterday

He said the federal buildings were being "protected by Federal Protective Services, who are being supported by both CBP and ICE officers." Those are federal law enforcement but aren't military (army, air force, navy, or marines plus their special units such as Seals and Rangers). Different training for domestic law enforcement for one thing so fall under different laws.

[druidity33]

68. Can't trust the Cooch...

so i would say, "Prove it Ken!". I doubt there is enough Fed Protective Svcs personnel to cover all the poorly run "Democrat cities" and free them of "terrorist anti-fa".

We'll see.........

[summer_in_TX]

70. My concern includes the possibility of some help from Erik Prince's boys.

This scenario leading up to the 2020 elections fills me with great unease.

[Ferrets are Cool]

8. Biggest K and R

[BarbD]

9. This needs to be investigated NOW. We are not a police state. Are we?

[TeamPooka]

10. turns out, we are

[not_the_one]

36. I'd be willimg to bet this is the handiwork of BarBar.

And they are only just getting started.

[LiberalArkie]

44. Within the 100 mile border control zone..

[OregonBlue]

46. Portland is 375 miles from the Canadian border.

[LiberalArkie]

47. The ocean is also a border

[Hekate]

12. There's a reason I like Steve Schmidt so much

[onetexan]

13. Charles Pierce is right, this is a dress rehearsal. Frightening to think of what's to come in Nov.

[bucolic_frolic]

14. How about The Guns of August?

Any Trump connections to the Kaiser?

[Efilroft Sul]

15. The same people who believed Jade Helm was real are now cheerleading these actions.

[MrModerate]

16. This is just a dry run for later this year, say early November...

When Trump declares martial law and begins rounding up 'dissidents' who didn't vote for him.

[standingtall]

37. I would think he would do before so they didn't have the chance to vote against him to begin with

That's why he is so opposed to mail in voting. Easier to arrest the opposition on the streets than it is in their homes.

[MrModerate]

50. You'd want to wait until all the votes were in...

So you could disappear ALL of them.

[Evolve Dammit]

17. Who gave the orders? Go from there. Thank you Steve. Rest of media??

[niyad]

20. Apparently, chad wolf, acting head of dhs.

Last edited Sun Jul 19, 2020, 04:40 PM - Edit history (1)

[Grasswire2]

48. CHAD Wolf. Yes, acting head of DHS.

He would not speak to Portland press yesterday when he was in town, but did give an interview to


SEAN HANNITY

last night.

[niyad]

54. Thank you.

[Amaryllis]

62. Acting Deputy Secretary of DHS Ken Cuccinelli on NPR yesterday.

justified it as protesters were damaging federal buildings so fed intervention was appropriate. But they were picking up innocent bystanders not involved in that. Also that POrtland law enforcement wasn't doing their job so they were protecting citizens from terrorism.

[Grasswire2]

63. $5,000 in graffiti is justification for the erosion of our Constitutional protections.

And all the FOX viewers shout AMEN!!

Some in my family in Portland area are thrilled with the jackboots. My cousin, a retired Honolulu PD, wants to start up a militia to help out. He weighs about 300 pounds and is 75 years old.

[Evolve Dammit]

69. Subpoena time. Have him 'splain it so we can all "understand".

[Ford_Prefect]

18. They are operating without federal warrants or a court's supervision.

That makes them outside the law and subject to arrest by state authorities. There is no declared emergency that would allow or invite federal intervention. There is no declared condition of insurrection or existential terrorist threat.

Arrest them. Jail them. Hold them until someone can vouch for controlling their actions and then arrest those people too.

If that won't do it I'll invest in some baseball bats and donate them to a worthy cause. My father went to Europe with his friends and neighbors to eliminate this kind of scum. I'm not asking to scrape them off the planet but I will not be polite if I meet them. Nor will I be reserved in prosecuting those who sent them.

[niyad]

19. Trial run for martial law?

[warmfeet]

21. Big fucking surprise.

The assholes are attempting to dry run an authoritarian state.

No one saw this coming.

You might want to fight this.

Been going on a while now.

Oh well, we will see if anyone lifts a finger to prevent this.

[BusyBeingBest]

22. It is disturbing. I remember this in early June in the DC protests, I think--

doofuses with a mixed bag of equipment and insignias on their shoulders from federal prisons. Don't think they were kidnapping anyone yet, though.

[lastlib]

49. That was just Step #1....

...to test the resistance. Since there was none, they've moved to Step #2.....

[KPN]

23. We are witnessing a tyrannical government.

Are we not? Where is all the right-wing obsession regarding a tyrannical government?

[dawnie51]

24. Eric Prince's boys?.......

I will be amazed if these guys turn out to be legit.

[bucolic_frolic]

25. What a waste of federal resources and taxpayer dollars for an election year stunt!!!

Trump is wasting our taxpayer dollars!

[AlexSFCA]

26. is OR not already doing so???

if not, epic failure from the governor. All I saw is some random tweet from him with no implied action. The governor is allowing domestic terrorism on its soil?

[bucolic_frolic]

28. The governor is Governor Kate Brown.

[AlexSFCA]

29. what action did she take to protect her residents?

[bucolic_frolic]

35. She was just on ALL IN with Chris Hayes

She spoke with DHS Tuesday and told them to go home, or not show up in the first place.

[AlexSFCA]

39. today is friday

obviously her words had no impact on trump as expected. But it appears that she failed to even mention the enforcement steps she would take.

[bucolic_frolic]

41. Yes it is

Your point?

DHS came anyway. The mayor told them to go home. This is federal overreach. I doubt she wants to escalate the situation - figure you'd have 2 sets of armed troops, Americans, facing off with guns, armor, and weaponry. Hard to imagine shots wouldn't be fired. And it sort of plays right in to Trump's wheelhouse - that there is this lawlessness amongst Democrats that only he can fix. I think she made a wise decision not to go down that road. Defusing conflict may not make us feel good in the moment, but it does prevent violence. And they've got all the evidence of the goons on video. So legal fallout has the goods.

[love_katz]

61. The mayor and the governor have told DHS to keep their troops inside the federal buildings

...or send them home. Oregon did not ask the feds for help, and out local government officials have made it abundantly clear that they are not welcome and are seen to be escalating the protests by their actions. The mayor has stated that they hoped to be out of the woods with the protests by this weekend, but due to the actions of the federal troops, that now the protests will reinvigorate and the potential for violence will increase. I am so angry at Agolf Twitler and all his goons that I could bite off ten penny nails. I think Twitler is trying to start a war, to bolster his falling poll numbers. But he is starting it on American soil and against American citizens.

[LeftInTX]

71. I read local law enforcement want them there

That doesn't make it right or legal

Oregon filed a lawsuit. I sure wish I would hear about an injunction.
This whole thing stinks beyond belief.

They need to stay on federal property.

If they think a protestor damaged their property and took off, then they can call local law enforcement.

[wnylib]

27. The Buffalo NPR station, WBFO, has

picked up this story and has been including it in their hourly newscast all day. I expect they will do some more in-depth coverage of it if one of their regular NPR programs, like On Point, covers it. They don't do their own in depth programs on national or distant events, but carry them when someone else does, like an NPR station in the location where something occurs.

I haven't been listening to Amy Goodman's Democracy Now program lately. Wonder if she is covering this. It's the type of story she would jump on.

[cayugafalls]

30. Cute videos will no longer cut it. This is bigger than that.

There is real concern here that democracy may well be off the table if we don't get a cap on this.

Where are our democratic leaders? Why is no one speaking out about this? Why is the this not plastered all over the media?

This is bad.

[UTUSN]

31. K&R

[roamer65]

32. He's goddamn right.

Arrest them all.

[Cha]

34. KR

[Trueblue Texan]

40. Where are all the mask resisters now?

They were screaming about rights being violated...how much more blatant can the violation of rights get than armed feds with no ID snatching protesters off the streets with no jurisdiction? Where are they now?

[Ahpook]

42. "Where is the outrage of the Democratic House Members"

This right here is what is pissing me off as well. Of course Trump is going to pull stuff like this, but the rest of the country has no answer AGAIN.

I am sick and tired of being rolled by these fascist pigs and hardly a whimper from anyone.

I mean what the fuck?

[Blue_Adept]

56. Have you gone and actually looked at house rep members and their statements?

Because you know their stuff barely gets carried by the networks or cable news nets.

Just because you don't hear it doesn't mean the right thing aren't being said. This happens time after time and people just expect it to be spoon-fed to them.

[NBachers]

43. Goons in Training- coming this fall to a polling station and Post Office near you.

[flibbitygiblets]

45. Sounds like Nicolle is going to talk about in the next segment (covering for Rachel tonight)

[certainot]

51. nice but never trumpers are half assed until they start mentioning llimbauugh- the guy

who has dominated politics for 30 years merely because the republicans bought up 600 radio stations to put him on.

he says call congress? i guess. how does calling your member compare with blasting the state with coordinated bullshit? but even if he's an ignorant city dweller who doesn't know talk radio he knows a lot more than most dems about how important talk radio has been to this disaster

guys like schmidt are afraid to mention he who should not be named as 1500 radio stations turn the mostly peaceful protests into mobs of "maggot infested marxist communists" attacking white businesses

smidt and the never trumpers need to get to the point and call out the guy most responsible for this disaster

[burrowowl]

55. Yes! Who are they?

[ron dawson]

58. Steve Schmidt Questioning Portland

What's next, the return of Hitler's Einzatsgruppen?

[bucolic_frolic]

59. For those not completely aware ......

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einsatzgruppen

Einsatzgruppen[a] (German: [ˈʔaɪnzatsˌɡʁʊpn̩], lit. "deployment groups";[1] also "task forces&quot [2] were Schutzstaffel (SS) paramilitary death squads of Nazi Germany that were responsible for mass killings, primarily by shooting, during World War II (1939–45) in German-occupied Europe. The Einsatzgruppen were involved in the murder of much of the intelligentsia, including members of the priesthood[3] and cultural elite of Poland, and had an integral role in the implementation of the so-called "Final Solution to the Jewish Question" (Die Endlösung der Judenfrage) in territories conquered by Nazi Germany. Almost all of the people they killed were civilians, beginning with the intelligentsia and swiftly progressing to Soviet political commissars, Jews, and Romani people as well as actual or alleged partisans throughout Eastern Europe.

[mcambush]

60. It would be nice

To hear a little outrage from house members and see something on MSNBC or CNN. I didn't see anything on Velshi, Joy R, Smirkonish.... Thankfully we can rely on never Trump R's to guide / provide justifiable rage!
News hasn't even mentioned Russian bounty story in weeks!

[sandensea]

66. Any resemblance to Argentina's 'Task Forces' (c. 1976) is purely coincidental...

Elliott Abrams and these same neo-cons were major cheerleaders for the practice at the time.

It was only a matter of time before they began trial runs here.