The Justice Department’s independent watchdog agency said Thursday that it will investigate the use of force by federal law enforcement officers in Portland, Oregon, and Washington, DC, where violent crackdowns on protesters have punctuated a summer that’s been rocked by protests against police brutality.
Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz said in a statement that his review of the law enforcement responses would include an examination of the instructions officers received and their compliance with policies regarding proper identification and the use of chemical agents.
The Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general is also probing the response of officers from his agency in Portland, including allegations that they improperly detained and transported some protesters, he said in a letter to Congress. https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/23/politics/justice-department-inspector-general-portland-washington/index.html
Acting Homeland Security secretary calls Portland protesters “violent criminals” https://www.cbsnews.com/news/portland-protests-acting-homeland-security-secretary-chad-wolf/ Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler was tear-gassed by federal agents as he spoke to a group of protesters next to a federal courthouse Wednesday night.
“Extrajudicial punishment is often a feature of politically repressive regimes, but even self-proclaimed or internationally recognized democracies have been known to use extrajudicial punishment under certain circumstances.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extrajudicial_punishment
In the absence of the rule of law: “The attack on Saturday 18 July was reportedly carried out by the paramilitary group known as Los Rastrojos [see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Rastrojos ] who have a heavy presence in the Catatumbo region. Paramilitary and paramilitary successor groups with historic links to actors within Colombian state institutions continue to operate in many regions of Colombia and have consolidated control in certain areas during the coronavirus pandemic.
Justice for Colombia calls on its supporters to be on high alert after repeated reports of a return to levels of paramilitary violence not seen for many years.
It is extremely worrying that during 2020 the Colombian army has also been implicated in at least two killings of civilians in the Catatumbo region.” https://justiceforcolombia.org/news/jfc-statement-on-18-july-paramilitary-massacre-in-catatumbo/
The Justice Department’s independent watchdog agency said Thursday that it will investigate the use of force by federal law enforcement officers in Portland, Oregon, and Washington, DC, where violent crackdowns on protesters have punctuated a summer that’s been rocked by protests against police brutality.
Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz said in a statement that his review of the law enforcement responses would include an examination of the instructions officers received and their compliance with policies regarding proper identification and the use of chemical agents.
The Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general is also probing the response of officers from his agency in Portland, including allegations that they improperly detained and transported some protesters, he said in a letter to Congress. https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/23/politics/justice-department-inspector-general-portland-washington/index.html
Acting Homeland Security secretary calls Portland protesters “violent criminals” https://www.cbsnews.com/news/portland-protests-acting-homeland-security-secretary-chad-wolf/ Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler was tear-gassed by federal agents as he spoke to a group of protesters next to a federal courthouse Wednesday night.
“Wall of Vets, grandparents support Black Lives Matter movement at protest” (KATU Channel 2 Portland July 25th 2020) https://katu.com/news/local/wall-of-vets-grandparents-support-black-lives-matter-movement-at-protest
“‘That’s an illegal order’: veterans challenge Trump’s officers in Portland : Two veterans asked federal agents if they understood their oath to defend the constitution as teargas was fired” (Guardian UK 7/25/20) https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jul/24/portland-trump-order-federal-officers-veterans-protests
“An Air Force surveillance plane from a secretive unit flew missions from an airport serving Portland, Ore., this week amid unrest there, but officials said they began planning the operations months ago and did not collect information about protests.”
[Reportedly] The plane was on an assignment for Big Safari, a secretive program that buys, tests and modifies equipment for U.S. Special Operations.” (Washington Post 7/24/20) https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2020/07/24/air-force-says-surveillance-plane-flew-over-portland-was-not-involved-response-protests/ “The plane arrived at Portland-Hillsboro Airport on Sunday afternoon and flew five flights over the state between Tuesday morning and Thursday morning, according to online civilian-run flight trackers.” See https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N645HM/history/20200719/1920Z/KAPA/KTWF
Re: “Big Safari” see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Safari
‘Violent anarchists’:
“Federal agents show stronger force at Portland protests despite order to withdraw” https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jul/30/federal-agents-portland-oregon-trump-troops
“The Department of Homeland Security has been ordered to immediately stop compiling “intelligence reports” on journalists covering protests in Portland after the insidious practice was exposed in an article in The Washington Post.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/dhs-ordered-to-stop-compiling-creepy-intelligence-reports-on-portland-journalists
“A memo by the department’s top intelligence official, which was tweeted by the editor of Lawfare, says personnel relied on “FINTEL,” an acronym for financial intelligence, as well as finished intelligence “Baseball cards” of arrested protesters to try to understand their motivations and plans. Historically, military and intelligence officials have used such cards for biographical dossiers of suspected terrorists, including those targeted in lethal drone strikes.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/dhs-compiled-intelligence-reports-on-journalists-who-published-leaked-documents/2020/07/30/5be5ec9e-d25b-11ea-9038-af089b63ac21_story.html
“Citing impostors, feds urge lifting of court order protecting journalists amid Portland protests : Justice Department lawyers leveled the claims of misconduct by purported journalists in filings submitted Thursday.” https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/31/feds-court-order-journalists-portland-protests-389262
Re: ‘Freedom of the press’ see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_the_press
“Extrajudicial punishment is often a feature of politically repressive regimes, but even self-proclaimed or internationally recognized democracies have been known to use extrajudicial punishment under certain circumstances.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extrajudicial_punishment
In the absence of the rule of law: “The attack on Saturday 18 July was reportedly carried out by the paramilitary group known as Los Rastrojos [see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Rastrojos ] who have a heavy presence in the Catatumbo region. Paramilitary and paramilitary successor groups with historic links to actors within Colombian state institutions continue to operate in many regions of Colombia and have consolidated control in certain areas during the coronavirus pandemic.
Justice for Colombia calls on its supporters to be on high alert after repeated reports of a return to levels of paramilitary violence not seen for many years.
It is extremely worrying that during 2020 the Colombian army has also been implicated in at least two killings of civilians in the Catatumbo region.” https://justiceforcolombia.org/news/jfc-statement-on-18-july-paramilitary-massacre-in-catatumbo/