Democrats Seek Probe on Police Use; Trump Pledges More to Come

House Democrats called for investigations into the use of federal police against protesters in a number of American cities, while President Donald Trump hailed the forces for combating “anarchists.”

“More federal law enforcement, that I can tell you,” Trump said on Monday at the White House when asked about his response to the unrest. “In Portland, they’ve done a fantastic job. They’ve been there three days. And they really have done a fantastic job in a short period of time.”

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said the Democrat-controlled chamber will act to address federal police behavior in Portland, while stopping short of specifying a response. The heads of three key House committees said in a joint statement Monday the Trump administration’s moves are violating first-amendment rights to free speech, and charged it with “militarization and misuse of federal law enforcement.”

The senior lawmakers addressed the call for a probe to the inspectors general of the Justice Department and Homeland Security Department.

The deployment of federal officers has emerged as a new political fault-line amid the social unrest that erupted after the death of George Floyd while in custody of Minneapolis police less than two months ago.

“The legal basis for this use of force has never been explained -- and, frankly, it is not at all clear that the Attorney General and the Acting Secretary are authorized to deploy federal law enforcement officers in this manner,” House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler, Homeland Security Chairman Bennie Thompson, and Oversight and Reform Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney wrote in a letter urging internal investigations into crackdowns on protesters in Portland, Oregon, and Washington, D.C.

“Citizens are concerned that the administration has deployed a secret police force, not to investigate crimes but to intimidate individuals it views as political adversaries, and that the use of these tactics will proliferate throughout the country,” the Democratic lawmakers said.

In a separate statement Monday, Nadler, Thompson and Adam Smith, head of the House Armed Services Committee, said “our nation is at a crossroads,” and accused the Trump administration of moving to “weaponize federal law enforcement for its own agenda.”

Reports that federal police have been detaining protesters in Portland while not wearing name tags or identifying themselves in other ways -- including arresting and searching individuals without properly reading them their rights -- are a particular concern, according to the Democratic officials.

Portland’s Democratic mayor, Ted Wheeler, said he believes the Trump administration is breaking the law in his city.

“What we’re seeing is a blatant abuse of police tactics by the federal government, by a Trump administration that’s falling in the polls,” Wheeler said during an interview Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union. “This is a direct threat to our democracy.”

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