The Democrats and leftists will no doubt claim victory after Oregon Gov. Kate Brown tweeted that federal agents will leave Portland starting tomorrow.
Department of Homeland Security Security Chad Wolf brought it down a notch or two.
Brown tweeted:
From The Washington Examiner:
But a statement from acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf offers no timeline and suggests that the drawdown process will not be immediate.”The Department will continue to maintain our current, augmented federal law enforcement personnel in Portland until we are assured that the Hatfield Federal Courthouse and other federal properties will no longer be attacked and that the seat of justice in Portland will remain secure,” Wolf said.
He also said:
Wolf said he and Brown had agreed to a joint plan to end “violent activity” in the city aimed at federal buildings.“State and local law enforcement will begin securing properties and streets, especially those surrounding federal properties, that have been under nightly attack for the past two months,” Wolf said in the statement.“Oregon State Police will coordinate with Federal Protective Service (FPS) officers to ensure all federal facilities remain protected and secure,” he added.
Portland has been a mess for weeks. For 62 nights in a row, people have attacked federal property, federal agents, vandalized buildings, etc. The destruction only comes at night.
Byron York noted that Brown did not mention the federal courthouse. I blogged on Monday about an AP reporter’s experience in the courthouse with the federal agents.
The agents did not respond until the rioters attacked the building.
Rioters pointed green lasers at the agents inside the courthouse, causing visual problems and some blindness.
They tried to saw through the fence. Others threw “rocks, cans of beans, wattle bottles, potatoes and rubber bouncy balls.” Here’s more:
The firework came whizzing over the fence so fast that the agent didn’t have time to move.It exploded with a boom, leaving his hearing deadened and bloody gashes on both forearms. Stunned, with help from his cohorts, he stripped to his boxer shorts and a black T-shirt so his wounds could be examined and photographed for evidence.He told his fellow agents he was more worried about his hearing than about the gouges and burns on his arms.By the end of the night, five other federal agents would be injured, including another who got a concussion when he was hit in the head with a commercial-grade firework. One agent was hospitalized. Several agents have lingering vision problems from the lasers.After each night of protest, they seize dozens of homemade shields, slingshots, blocks of wood and chunks of concrete.“My friends have been hit in the head with hammers. I know people who have been shot with fireworks. It’s disgusting,” said the Deputy U.S. Marshal who’s been at the courthouse for weeks. “I’ve never thought I’d have to walk around in my office building wearing a gas mask to go sit in front of my computer.”
The agents fear for their lives. Remember, the agents do not use tear gas or react unless rioters attack them first.
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