Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf warned against a “dangerous” trend of demonizing law enforcement across the country.
As federal officers have clashed with protesters amid violent unrest in Portland over the past few weeks, Wolf said Sunday that there’s been an inaccurate description of what agents are doing to control the situation and that calling the demonstrations “peaceful” is misleading. Wolf said when he recently spoke with Democratic members of Congress, only one lawmaker, whom he didn’t mention by name, asked him if his officers were OK.
“We’re standing up for law and order,” Wolf said on Fox News’s Sunday Morning Futures With Maria Bartiromo. “And anyone who says otherwise is not being accurate. I will say that the other side that wants to criticize law enforcement, what they don’t do, they do not condemn these acts of violence in Portland. I have talked with a number of Democratic members of Congress, and all but one, only one, have asked me about the health of my officers. All they want to do is condemn law enforcement for doing their job.”
Wolf has been spearheading the Trump administration’s efforts to send in federal agents into several cities to help quell the violence and unrest that has escalated in recent weeks. Rioters have clashed with agents in cities such as Chicago and Portland, which has resulted in civilian crowds throwing rocks, frozen water bottles, mortars, and using laser pointers to blind officers.
The DHS chief’s role in the efforts has led to planned protests outside his own residence in Virginia over the weekend.
Sending in federal agents into cities was also met with criticism from several Democratic lawmakers, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who referred to the agents as “storm troopers.” Wolf defended the decision to send in teams to try and uphold law and order and said Pelosi and other lawmakers’ misinterpretation of events is dangerous for the public.
“The comment from Speaker Pelosi that our federal law enforcement officers, civil law enforcement officers are storm troopers, are the Gestapo, or thugs is absolutely irresponsible,” Wolf said. “It’s dangerous. She should immediately apologize for that.”
