Federal Law Enforcement Use Unmarked Vehicles To Grab Protesters Off Portland Streets

[swag]

Source: Oregon Public Broadcasting

by Jonathan Levinson and Conrad Wilson OPB July 16, 2020 2:45 p.m. | Updated: July 16, 2020 5:18 p.m.

Excerpt:

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 Protection’s 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 aren’t near federal property, nor is it clear that all of the people being arrested have engaged in criminal activity. Demonstrators like O’Shea and Pettibone said they think they were targeted by federal officers for simply wearing black clothing in the area of the demonstration.

. . . more

Read more: https://www.opb.org/news/article/federal-law-enforcement-unmarked-vehicles-portland-protesters/

[LiberalFighter]

1. I would not have any sympathy if any of the feds were harmed.

[Lonestarblue]

2. Trump is trying to escalate violence.

The Feds need to leave Portland and let the state deal with its own policing needs.

[bucolic_frolic]

3. Stasi Secret Police?

ACLU will hopefully be on this soon

[soothsayer]

4. Yeah, was looking at this earlier

Link to tweet

?s=21

[Cha]

23. Rt.. TY

[Miguelito Loveless]

5. I don't see how this could go wrong

Men in black tactical gear screech up to the curb in a car, jump out, grab you and stuff you in the car. I mean, no way a bystander carrying a firearm might think a kidnapping was in progress and act accordingly.

[rickford66]

10. I witnessed something like that in Paris, 1988.

My wife and I were outside the Centre Pompidou when a car stopped, four men, in plain clothes, jumped out and grabbed a guy on the sidewalk, threw him into the car and sped off.

[Newest Reality]

6. Chilling!

[babylonsister]

7. Gawd. Gestapo? nt

[bluestarone]

9. WOW!

MY thoughts as well! Can't the Gov. go to court, and at least get these yayoo's off the streets? If they are there to protect federal buildings, then STAY there and fucking protect them! Really how do we know if they are foreign or domestic?

[niyad]

12. Wonder how many are Erik prince's murdering thugs?

[truthisfreedom]

31. First thing I thought as well. They look just like the guys in DC. Erik Prince written all over it.

[sanatanadharma]

8. There was a time in Uruguay when people were picked-up and disappeared

There was a time in Uruguay when people were picked-up from the streets and disappeared. Occasionally a victim's body is found but the bodies in the sea will never be seen.
The country is still reckoning with the history of the dictadura and with those living now who kidnapped and killed citizens under the cover of the government then.

[Judi Lynn]

21. Some of the missing people taken from the streets were tortured death, by US specialist Dan Mitrione

who was sent there by Richard Nixon to train Uruguayan police his own torture techniques. He had his torture devices delivered to him in the US Embassy diplomatic bag.

Dan Mitrione Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Mitrione

So glad you mentioned Uruguay. So few US Americans are aware of any of that hideous dictatorship, and the US involvement.

When a movie was made about Dan Mitrione, State of Siege the government made sure it wasn't distributed commercially.

State of Siege Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Siege

Thanks for your post, sanatanadharma.

[warmfeet]

11. I thought we were the government.

I thought we elected representatives to represent us.

I was fucking wrong. It all got away.......... from us. Somehow.

A lot of hard work remains to make it work for all of us.

[canuckledragger]

13. This is domestic terrorism being done by those 'cops'

meant to intimidate and silence any kind of dissent or imaginary challenge to the authority they abuse so often.

I hope THEY get investigated and thrown in jail for kidnapping.

[AllaN01Bear]

14. if the feds are masked , no badge no name plate no insginia of rank , out of uniform

and should be fired .

[rdking647]

27. they should be arrested as terrorists

[Grokenstein]

15. Defend yourselves.

If they are not clearly marked as law enforcement, they have no authority to detain you.

This is the shit George Zimmerman attempted to pull the night he murdered Trayvon Martin. Martin fought back because he knew what would happen if he complied. These Feds are not quite there...yet. They're seeing what you'll tolerate. THEN they'll start killing you.

[McKim]

16. I Wrote to Our Mayor

I wrote to our mayor about this. I am wondering where were these people taken? I am going to get to the bottom of this. So where are they? What are they charged with? I will find out!

[swag]

17. Keeping up with the "snatcher vehicles"

Link to tweet

[JohnnyRingo]

18. What is the protest about...

I want to know why Trump thinks the feds have to intervene.

[Hekate]

20. Generalissimo Trump is escalating

How very, very Soviet of him. I guess those nightly calls to his boss are paying off.

[muriel_volestrangler]

22. Trying to intimidate protesters into becoming informers

Pettibone said he was put into a cell. Soon after, two officers came in to read him his Miranda rights. They didn’t tell him why he was being arrested. He said they asked him if he wanted to waive his rights and answer some questions, but Pettibone declined and said he wanted a lawyer. The interview was terminated, and about 90 minutes later he was released. He said he did not receive any paperwork, citation or record of his arrest.

They're picking up isolated people who aren't doing anything illegal, using tactics to make them fearful (without causing physical harm that could be documented and proved - so they pulled his beanie over his face so he couldn't see), and then seeing if they can be coerced into talking without a lawyer present.

Rule #1 for protesters: however law-abiding you are, always be prepared to get arrested for a bogus reason. And then never say anything without a genuine lawyer working for you.

[eppur_se_muova]

24. How do the victim and bystanders know it's not a kidnapping ? Why shouldn't they defend themselves ?

If one shot an officer, I would consider it justified as self-defense. And I'm about the least pro-gun person you'll find.

[rdking647]

25. any feds doing this should be treated as terrorists

[dalton99a]

26. This operation is Barr's brainchild.

[Ollie Garkie]

28. I wonder....

What oh so skeptical of the federal government conservatives will say about this. That's right, nothing, the hypocrites.

[swag]

29. "I think Portland is a test case"

“I think Portland is a test case,” Zakir Khan, a spokesman for the Oregon chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, told The Post. “They want to see what they can get away with before launching into other parts of the country.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/07/17/portland-protests-federal-arrests/

[geretogo]

30. Look for protesters disappearing and coming soon journalists will be found dead or disappeared .

This is classic Fascist police state tactics and 30% of brain dead Americans will agree with it .
Ben Franklin said , " all Republics end in dictatorship " .

[Hugin]

32. Shades of Argentina.

Very disturbing.