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Federal Presence in Portland Gives Protests New Momentum

Associated Press

   PORTLAND, OREGON - Mardy Widman has watched protests against racial
   injustice unfold in her hometown of Portland, Oregon, for more than
   seven weeks but stayed away because, at age 79, she feared contracting
   the coronavirus.

   But that calculus changed for Widman when President Donald Trump sent
   federal law enforcement agents to the liberal city to quell violent
   demonstrations that he said were fueled by "anarchists and agitators."
   On Monday, a masked Widman was in the street with more than 1,000 other
   Portlanders -- a far larger crowd than the city had seen in recent
   days, as it entered its eighth week of nightly protests.

   "It's like a dictatorship," Widman, a grandmother of five, said,
   holding up a sign that read: "Grammy says: Please feds, leave
   Portland."

   "I mean, that he can pick on our city mostly because of the way we vote
   and make an example of it for his base is very frightening," she said.

   Far from tamping down the unrest, the presence of federal agents on the
   streets of Portland -- and particularly allegations they have whisked
   people away in unmarked cars without probable cause -- has given new
   momentum and a renewed, laser-sharp focus to protests that had begun to
   devolve into smaller, chaotic crowds. The use of federal agents against
   the will of local officials has also set up the potential for a
   constitutional crisis -- and one that could escalate as Trump says he
   plans to send federal agents to other cities.

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