A top Democratic lawmaker compared the federal law enforcement officers who used unmarked vehicles to detain protesters in Portland, Oregon, to Nazi Germany’s secret police.
Jim Clyburn, a congressman from South Carolina, warned this sort of law enforcement tactic could threaten the “preservation of the greatest democracy.”
“I would really like to know who ordered those people to be there,” the House majority whip said during a Monday morning interview on CNN’s New Day. “The way I understand things, it seems that somebody had to be deputized by the attorney general, or some order from him, to do what they were doing. And so, I believe law enforcement of that nature should be left up to local communities and these communities. If they want help, they will then summon the federal government to intercede.”
Law enforcement officials from Customs and Border Protection’s Border Patrol Tactical Unit and the U.S. Marshals Special Operations Group were sent to the city to protect federal property following calls from some activists to tear down statues of historical figures. Protesters, demonstrating following the death of George Floyd, began raising the alarm last week about masked and camouflaged federal officials grabbing them off the streets using unmarked vehicles.
“For all of a sudden for these people to go in there, nothing from the governor, nothing from local law enforcement, just show up with their faces covered in unmarked cars,” Clyburn stated, before adding. “That kind of activity is the activity of a police state, and this president and this attorney general seem to be doing everything they possibly can to impose Gestapo activities in local communities, and that is what I have been warning about for a long time.”
His comparison to the Nazis echoes what was said by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who derided the federal agents as “stormtroopers.” She, along with Oregon Democratic Rep. Earl Blumenauer, issued a statement accusing the officers of “kidnapping” Portland protesters.
Several top Democrats wrote a letter to the inspectors general of the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security on Sunday, demanding an investigation into the use of federal agents in Portland. The U.S. attorney for the Oregon district has also requested an investigation.
President Trump defended the federal law enforcement presence in Portland as he chided Democratic leaders in cities for not sufficiently reining in violence in their cities.
“We are trying to help Portland, not hurt it. Their leadership has, for months, lost control of the anarchists and agitators. They are missing in action. We must protect Federal property, AND OUR PEOPLE,” Trump tweeted on Sunday.
