First they came for the peaceful Portland protesters...
By Curt Anderson July 25, 2020 3:27 pm Category: Military (4.2 from 6 votes)
Rules of the Post
First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me
-Martin Niemöller (1892–1984)
Federal Agents Push Into Portland Streets, Stretching Limits of Their Authority
(New York Times, July 25, 2020) PORTLAND, Ore. — After flooding the streets around the federal courthouse in Portland with tear gas during Friday’s early morning hours, dozens of federal officers in camouflage and tactical gear stood in formation around the front of the building.
Then, as one protester blared a soundtrack of “The Imperial March,” the officers started advancing. Through the acrid haze, they continued to fire flash grenades and welt-inducing marble-size balls filled with caustic chemicals. They moved down Main Street and continued up the hill, where one of the agents announced over a loudspeaker: “This is an unlawful assembly.”
By the time the security forces halted their advance, the federal courthouse they had been sent to protect was out of sight — two blocks behind them.
The aggressive incursion of federal officers into Portland has been stretching the legal limits of federal law enforcement, as agents with batons and riot gear range deep into the streets of a city whose leadership has made it clear they are not welcome.
Video footage captured after Oregonian/OregonLive journalists left downtown showed a few dozen federal officers emerged on Third Avenue around 2:30 a.m. The officers press people north for at least one block, past the pallet fire. As officers advanced, they shot less-lethal munitions and set off devices that emitted sound and other irritants.
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Comments on "First they came for the peaceful Portland protesters...":
First they came for the Communists