PORTLAND, Ore. — The mayor of Portland is demanding that President Donald Trump remove militarized federal agents he deployed to the city after some detained people on streets distant from federal property they were sent to protect.
“Keep your troops in your own buildings, or have them leave our city,” Mayor Ted Wheeler said at a news conference.
Democratic Gov. Kate Brown said Trump is looking for a confrontation in the hopes of winning political points elsewhere. It also serves as a distraction from the coronavirus pandemic, which is causing spiking numbers of infections in Oregon and the nation.
Brown’s spokesman, Charles Boyle, said Friday that arresting people without probable cause is “extraordinarily concerning and a violation of their civil liberties and constitutional rights.”
The protests following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis have often devolved into violent clashes between smaller groups and the police.
The unrest has caused divisions in a city that prides itself on its activism and progressive reputation.
