Judge Andrew Napolitano said federal law enforcement officers had no right to intervene in protests in Portland, Oregon.
“The federal government cannot put troops or military personnel or police on the streets without the invitation of the governor or the legislature of the state. That is not only federal law, that is in the Constitution. And as horrific as it is for people who believe in the sanctity of the person and of private property to watch this destruction, there is very little that the feds can do about it,” the Fox News commentator said Monday.
“What happened in Portland over the weekend was not only unlawful and unconstitutional, it was just plain wrong,” he added.
Law enforcement officials from Customs and Border Protection’s Border Patrol Tactical Unit and the U.S. Marshals Special Operations Group established a presence in Portland in recent days, wearing military-like camouflage uniforms and removing protesters from the streets in unmarked vehicles.
Oregon’s governor called the action “a blatant abuse of power,” while Portland’s mayor called it “an attack on our democracy.”
“The federal government can’t do what it doesn’t have the authority to do. And it shouldn’t do anything without the coordination of the locals. And if the mayor for whatever sound or perverse reason he may have does not want the feds and his streets, and if the governor doesn’t ask for them or the legislature doesn’t ask for them … this is the Constitution,” Judge Napolitano said. “Then they can to go there. It is as plain and simple as that.”
