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Federal Officers Charge Protesters in Portland

VOA News

   Federal police officers in riot gear reportedly charged protesters in
   the city of Portland, Oregon early Saturday after Oregon's attorney
   general announced she was suing the federal government over the arrest
   of protesters.

   Portland police declared the demonstration in the city's downtown area
   unlawful early Saturday morning and federal and local law enforcement
   officers without clear identification badges converged simultaneously
   to "advance on protesters," according to the Oregonian newspaper.

   A U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson said Friday its
   agents had been deployed to the city to bolster the newly created U.S.
   Department of Homeland Security (DHS) unit, which President Donald
   Trump has tasked with protecting federal monuments and buildings in
   Portland.

   Saturday morning's demonstration was the latest daily protest around
   the federal courthouse in Portland since George Floyd, an African
   American man, was killed in Minneapolis on May 25 after being held down
   by a white police. Anti-racism protests quickly erupted in Minneapolis
   and spread to other U.S. cities such as Portland and to other countries
   throughout the world.

   [1]The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Oregon on Friday called
   actions of federal officers against protesters in Portland "flat-out
   unconstitutional."

   "What is happening now in Portland should concern everyone in the
   United States," said Jann Carson, interim executive director of ACLU
   Oregon. "Usually when we see people in unmarked cars forcibly grab
   someone off the street, we call it kidnapping."

References

   1. https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/aclu-comment-federal-response-portland-protests

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