US protests: Oregon takes legal action against federal agents

Portland protesters have taken to the streets for the 52nd night amid growing condemnation of federal agency forces deployed to the city and the law enforcement tactics they have used. The most recent night of unrest on Saturday came shortly after the state’s attorney general, Ellen Rosenblum, announced she had filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security, US Marshals Service, US Customs and Border Protection and the Federal Protection Service saying their tactics infringe upon the civil rights of protesters in the state. “The federal administration has chosen Portland to use their scare tactics to stop our residents from protesting police brutality and from supporting the Black Lives Matter movement,” Rosenblum said in a statement, adding she is The lawsuit comes after several reported instances of federal officers detaining demonstrators, including incidents in which agents in fatigues and without identification took protesters into unmarked vehicles for questioning on streets far from federal property. Portland’s mayor and Oregon’s governor called the actions of the federal agents an abuse by federal law enforcement officials, while Oregon’s two senators and two of its House members said they will also be asking the DHS inspector general, as well as the US Department of Justice, to investigate “the unrequested presence and violent actions of federal forces in Portland”. “Each night the violent anarchists destroy and desecrate property, including the federal courthouse, and attack the brave law enforcement officers protecting it.” Further compounding criticism of the agents’ actions, a New York Times report published on Saturday cited an internal DHS memo that suggested the personnel sent to Portland by the agency did not have the proper training or equipment to respond to demonstrators.