MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough and Al Sharpton decried the violence that has taken place in Portland as protesters clash with federal law enforcement officers.
“Breaking of windows at a courthouse, setting fire to federal buildings, firing guns in crowds, committing acts of violence that most Americans, including myself, think is repugnant,” Scarborough said on Monday’s episode of Morning Joe.
Scarborough, a former Republican congressman and vocal critic of President Trump, noted that rioters have targeted federal buildings that federal law enforcement officials were sent to the Oregon city to protect.
“Now, of course, frightening Donald Trump’s use of federal forces is obviously chilling, and it’s frightening, but two things can be true at the same time,” he said. Scarborough also speculated outside actors could be involved in the chaos.
Sharpton, in echoing commentary from E.D. Mondaine, the president of the Portland chapter of the NAACP, called the violence a “spectacle” spinning out of demonstrations against police brutality and racial inequality that spread across the country following the death of George Floyd.
“You can’t let your anger feed into your enemy’s benefit,” he said, highlighting older Civil Rights activists, including the late Rep. John Lewis. “Because what Donald Trump needs right now is to become the law and order person against people that have made people perceive that the nation is out of control, therefore, we need someone to get control.”
“The young activists there, they’ve been doing this for 59 or more days, we’re talking in the last several days, they should not distort the message. This is about policing, this is about racism, this is not about whether we want to tear something down,” Sharpton later added.
Trump deployed federal law enforcement forces to Portland and has plans to send them to other cities to protect federal property and help quell unrest. However, at least in Portland, their presence appears to have escalated the situation.
