WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th July, 2020) Four US lawmakers sent a letter to the Trump administration to protest the use of force allegedly used by Federal officers in Portland and demanded an explanation for a recent shooting incident that left a peaceful protester severely injured, Senator Ron Whyden said in a statement.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly hailed the success of the deployment of federal law enforcement to quell violent demonstrations Portland and promised to replicate the practice in other localities despite the opposition of local authorities.
"This weekend a peaceful protestor was shot in the head with a potentially deadly crowd control munition after Donald Trump deployed federal law enforcement to Portland. Trump thinks he can treat law enforcement as his personal occupying army. Not on my watch. I'm demanding answers," Whyden wrote in the letter to US Attorney General William Barr and Acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Chad Wolf.
Wyden said he unequivocally condemned such acts of violence and any effort to target, attack, or silence those peacefully exercising their First Amendment rights.
The letter was co-signed by US Senator Jeff Merkley and Congress members Earl Blumenauer and Suzanne Bonamici.
On Saturday, violent riots erupted in Portland a night after a group of protesters gathered near Hatfield United States Courthouse while federal officers were inside the building. Local media reported that the officers exited to reportedly chase a man who used chalk to write on the sidewalk in front of the building. As a result, one protester was seriously injured in the head when officers fired munitions to disperse the crowd.
The lawmakers identified a shooter as a member of the Justice Department's Marshal Service Special Operations Group and denounced the incident as "an unnecessary escalation on the part of federal agents."
The lawmakers alleged that the agent violated commonly employed training tactics that direct officers to aim below the head and face area. Ongoing protests in Portland are a continuation of a nationwide movement against police brutality and racial injustice triggered by the death of George Floyd, an African American man, in police custody in late May.
Portland's Mayor Ted Wheeler said on Wednesday that he stands with Senator Whyden in calling on federal law enforcement and the Trump administration to be thorough and transparent with their findings.
Earlier, the mayor voiced his opposition to the deployment of federal officers, arguing that the best thing they can do is stay inside their building, or leave Portland altogether.
