President Trump said local officials in Oregon are fearful of anti-government protesters who have caused destruction in Portland during otherwise peaceful demonstrations demanding police reform in recent weeks.
“A lot of people in jail, these are anarchists. These are not protesters. … These are people that hate our country. And we’re not going to let it go forward,” Trump said Monday of recent anti-government demonstrations that have taken place in the city. “The governor and the mayor and the senators out there, they are afraid of these people. That’s the reason they don’t want us to help them. They’re afraid. … I really believe they’re actually, maybe even physically afraid of these people because what they’re doing is incredible.”
Among demonstrations supporting Black Lives Matter in the city since the death of George Floyd, widespread looting, vandalism, and arson have taken place near the local federal courthouse and surrounding downtown area.
Over the weekend, protesters forced their way into the Portland Police Association building and lit dumpsters on fire. U.S. Attorney for Oregon Billy Williams last week estimated that a dozen people have been arrested on federal charges, including arson and assaulting a federal officer, Oregon Live reported.
Williams said the U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General will also investigate an incident that led to a federal officer critically injuring a protester with a crowd-control munitions device.
Trump has deployed members of the U.S. Marshals Special Operations Group and the Border Patrol Tactical Unit to the area in recent days. Some activists and journalists at the scene have reported federal officers arresting people on the streets.
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler has on more than one occasion said he does not want federal officers paroling city streets.
“Well, the president has a complete misunderstanding of cause and effect. What’s happening here is, we have dozens, if not hundreds, of federal troops descending upon our city,” said Wheeler on CNN. “And what they’re doing is, they are sharply escalating the situation. Their presence here is actually leading to more violence and more vandalism. And it’s not helping the situation at all. They’re not wanted here. We haven’t asked them [to be] here. In fact, we want them to leave. What we’re seeing is a blatant abuse of police tactics by the federal government, by a Trump administration that’s falling in the polls. And this is a direct threat to our democracy.”
Trump said the federal authorities on the ground in Portland are doing a great job and compared the unrest in Portland to an uptick in violent crime this summer in major U.S. cities such as New York City and Chicago.
The president also suggested that he would send federal troops into other cities to help local police fight crime.
“We didn’t just go there. This wasn’t like it started right away. We went there after 51 days. We said, ‘We can’t let that happen anymore.’ But these are anarchists, and the politicians out there — yes, they’re weak, but they are afraid of these people. They are actually afraid of these people, and that’s why they say, ‘We don’t want the federal government helping,'” Trump said. “How about Chicago? Would you say they need help after this weekend? … Did you hear the numbers? Many, many shot. Many, many killed. … I’m not talking about one, two — what is it? Eighteen people killed? I think more than that. And you add it up over the summer? This is worse than Afghanistan by far. This is worse than anything anyone’s ever seen.”
