This is a flagrant overreaction on the part of federal agents, Wheeler said.
Portland:
The mayor of Portland was wiped out on Wednesday as he met protesters protesting police brutality and the deployment of federal troops to U.S. cities ordered by President Donald Trump.
AFP footage showed Democratic Mayor Ted Wheeler wearing goggles and a face mask and being whisked away from a crowd amid clouds of gas and exploding fireworks nearby.
“This is a gross overreaction on the part of federal officers,” Wheeler told The New York Times.
“This is outright urban warfare.”
VIDEO: Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler is out of breath on the frontlines of a protest against the use of federal agents to quell protests.
Wheeler demanded the withdrawal of federal officers from the US city, accusing them of dangerously worsening the situation pic.twitter.com/zVppSm5TEt
– AFP News Agency (@AFP) July 23, 2020
Thousands of protesters took to the streets Wednesday night, according to NBC affiliate KGW8, in the latest round of protests that were initially sparked by the May murder of African American George Floyd.
The city police department said protesters threw flares and incendiary devices into the federal courthouse, causing small fires in the compound.
He then declared a riot in the area outside the justice center and ordered the protesters to disperse immediately.
Previous protests in Portland – and much of the United States – to expose racism and police brutality after Floyd’s death at the hands of a white police officer began to falter in early July.
But then reports emerged of camouflaged federal agents snatching Portland protesters into unmarked vehicles.
Now the protests have intensified, with thousands showing up daily to confront the police until late at night.
Wheeler has previously called for the withdrawal of federal officers from the city in the northwestern United States, accusing them of dangerously escalating the situation with abusive and unconstitutional tactics against protesters.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
