A federal attorney said Monday that federal officers won’t leave Portland during violent protests, The Associated Press reported.
U.S. Attorney Billy J. Williams of the District of Oregon said during a news conference that federal officers will not leave the city until protesters stop attacking the U.S. courthouse in Portland, the AP reported. (Related: Media Downplays Ongoing Violence In Portland, Claims ‘Right-Wing’ Outlets Are Playing Up The Unrest)
“It is not a solution to tell federal officers to leave when there continues to be attacks on federal property and personnel. We are not leaving the building unprotected to be destroyed by people intent on doing so,” Williams said, the AP reported.
The Portland Police Department declared Saturday’s protests officially a riot after protesters tore down fencing in front of the federal courthouse. Protests have been ongoing in Portland for more than two months, according to Daily Caller reporters on the scene.
Democratic Mayor Ted Wheeler of Portland joined other Democratic mayors in writing to Congress on Monday, asking them to restrict the federal government’s deployment of federal officers to cities, according to a letter Wheeler posted on Twitter.
President Donald Trump deployed more than 200 federal officers to Chicago to quell violent protests, according to a July 22 press briefing. Federal officers were also deployed to other cities, according to Attorney General William Barr.
Commissioner @JoAnnPDX and I are calling for an immediate meeting with Department of Homeland Security leadership on the ground in Portland and with Acting Secretary @DHS_Wolf to discuss a cease-fire and the removal of heightened federal forces from Portland.
— Mayor Ted Wheeler (@tedwheeler) July 28, 2020
Demonstrators across the U.S. have been urging for police reform and racial justice since George Floyd died in police custody May 25. George Floyd died after former Minneapolis now-fired police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes, video footage shows.
The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation for comment.
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