Fifteen Democratic mayors from some of the country’s largest cities demanded the Trump administration to pull out all federal law enforcement from Portland, Oregon, and not send in more police to other cities, as he has threatened to do.
“It is concerning that federal law enforcement is being deployed for political purposes,” the coalition of mayors wrote in a letter to acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf and Attorney General William Barr that was posted online late Tuesday. “The president and his administration continually attack local leadership and amplify false and divisive rhetoric purely for campaign fodder,” the letter stated. “Their words and actions have created an environment of fear and mistrust.”
President Trump has threatened to send federal law enforcement, including elite forces from Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and other federal agents, to Chicago and other cities with rising crime levels as local police contend with defunding efforts. Federal police have only been sent to Portland thus far on the basis that they are needed to assist DHS’s Federal Protective Service officers who are guarding several federal buildings that have been attacked with fireworks this month.
But the mayors say peaceful protests unfolding in their cities have not seen assaults on federal facilities or federal statues; therefore, federal forces are not needed.
All extraordinary federal law enforcement and military presence needs to be withdrawn from American cities @realDonaldTrump. pic.twitter.com/kcdZov4FRF
— Mayor Muriel Bowser (@MayorBowser) July 22, 2020
The mayors — Muriel Bowser of the District of Columbia, Jenny Durkan of Seattle, Ted Wheeler of Portland, Keisha Lance Bottoms of Atlanta, Lori Lightfoot of Chicago, Quinton Lucas of Kansas City, Missouri, Martin Walsh of Boston, Jim Kenney of Philadelphia, Michael Hancock of Denver, Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles, Sam Liccardo of San Jose, California, Libby Schaaf of Oakland, California, Regina Romero of Tucson, Arizona, Darrell Steinberg of Sacramento, California, and Kate Gallego of Phoenix — also sent a second letter to the top House and Senate Democrats and Republicans seeking a congressional investigation into how Trump is going about his plan.
“The American people have a right to understand the circumstances under which federal action has been authorized and taken in American cities. We urge you to investigate these actions immediately,” the letter states. ”The president’s decision to unilaterally deploy these paramilitary type forces into our cities mirrors the very tyranny our country has fought against and is wholly inconsistent with our democracy.”
With mayors from across the country, we call for a full investigation into your administration’s actions.
This is not what a democracy should look like. pic.twitter.com/5HIFCqtiwU
— Mayor Muriel Bowser (@MayorBowser) July 22, 2020
Following attacks on federal and local statues and monuments nationwide in June, Trump took executive action by ordering federal personnel to defend federal property.
Over the weekend, Wheeler claimed DHS sending in its own reinforcements was worsening the situation and said federal agents were unconstitutionally arresting people.
