At ongoing protests in Portland, officers clad in Portland Police uniforms stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the anonymous feds dressed in camouflage. While Portland Police are bound by a judge’s injunction on the use of non-lethal tactics such as tear gas, the feds aren’t. So the local cops are using the feds as cover, argued Juan Chavez, a Portland civil rights attorney.
“It’s clear to everyone out there that the city is riding the coattails of the feds using tear gas and munitions. And the locals are using their own tactics, like bull rushes on protesters, that seem intentional,” Chavez said.
Meanwhile, Daryl Turner, president of the city’s police union, met with Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf last week, following apparent confusion from the chief of the Portland Bureau of Police over whether officers had met with Wolf. Turner told media that he hoped to help federal agents work more easily with local police…
“They stand right next to each other and shoot us at the same time,” Portland activist Greg McElvey told The Daily Beast. “That’s usually the telltale. They disperse crowds at the same time, we see them talk to each other. Other than throwing people into vans, this is all stuff the Portland Police were already doing.”
