Wallace - Trumps Cognitve test labelled next level lunacy + Trump huge drop in Polls to Biden

Fox's Napolitano rips 'unconstitutional' Trump crackdown on Portland: 'Just plain wrong'

https://thehill.com/homenews/media/508205-foxs-napolitano-rips-unconstitutional-trump-crackdown-on-portland-just-plain

Andrew Napolitano slammed the Trump administration for sending federal law enforcement to Portland in response to violent protests in Oregon's largest city, with the Fox News senior judicial analyst calling the move "unconstitutional" and "just plain wrong."

 

Democrats seek probe into ‘secret police force’ in Oregon

https://www.ft.com/content/c2066705-b769-4dff-80c2-2ccb82711486
 

Senior Democratic lawmakers have called for inquiries into the Trump administration’s use of federal law enforcement officers to quell protests in Oregon, saying the administration did not have “unfettered authority” to crack down on peaceful demonstrations. The request from Jerry Nadler, the chairman of the House judiciary committee, and Carolyn Maloney, who chairs the House oversight committee, came after local officials in Oregon accused the Trump administration of using unlawful and “abhorrent” tactics in Portland, the state’s largest city. “This is a matter of utmost urgency. 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,” Mr Nadler and Ms Maloney stated.

"They're kidnapping people": "Trump's secret police" snatch Portland protesters into unmarked vans

salon

Democratic leaders in Oregon called on the Trump administration to withdraw federal forces from Portland after footage emerged of camouflaged federal officers snatching protesters off the streets and detaining them in unmarked minivans.

Officers from the U.S. Marshals Special Operations Group and Custom and Border Protection's Border Patrol Tactical Unit have been deployed to protect federal property in Portland amid ongoing protests since July 14, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting. But the officials have also detained protesters who are not near federal property, the outlet reported, and it is unclear if all of the detained individuals were involved in alleged criminal activity.

Trump’s Legal Justification for the Abduction of Portland Protesters Is Absurd

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/07/trump-legal-justification-portland-secret-police.html

Over the weekend, a group of Portland, Oregon, moms confronted federal officers who had fired tear gas at them and other peaceful protesters on Saturday outside of a federal courthouse. The escalation of the Portland protests came as unidentified federal officers in paramilitary uniforms were caught on tape abducting protesters and as President Donald Trump announced on Monday that he might send “more federal law enforcement” to cities “run by liberal Democrats” to replicate the Portland tactics against protesters, including efforts to “grab them, a lot of people in jail.” On Monday, it was reported that the Department of Homeland Security would be sending 150 federal agents to Chicago this week with an unspecified mandate. The apparent legal justification for the abduction of protesters is weak, and it should be vigorously challenged in the courts before Trump can export these tactics to other cities for use against citizens exercising their First Amendment rights.

Trump and Alien and Sedition Acts

Trump Threatens Cities With Feds After Violence Against Portland Protesters | The 11th Hour | MSNBC

Oregon Expanding Criminal Probe Of Unmarked Federal Troops | Rachel Maddow | MSNBC

Trump pounding at defund the police, but Biden is an elusive target

https://www.foxnews.com/media/trump-pounding-at-defund-the-police-but-biden-is-an-elusive-target

Things would be so much easier for the Trump campaign if Joe Biden was in favor of defunding the police.

But the president and his team are determined to tie every out-there left-wing position around their opponent’s neck, brushing aise his denials.

 

But Biden is a fascinating case study. While he’s certainly more liberal than any past Democratic standard-bearer of the modern era, he’s largely avoided embracing the most controversial proposals from the Bernie/AOC wing of the party. Biden has said repeatedly he doesn’t support defunding the police, he didn’t back the Green New Deal and refused to support Medicare for All, drawing flak from the woke progressives.

But President Trump took a very different tack in the Chris Wallace interview that aired Sunday.

“Biden wants to defund the police,” Trump said.

“No he, sir, he does not,” Wallace countered.

“Look,” Trump said. “He signed a charter with Bernie Sanders; I will get that one...Did you read the charter that he agreed to with...”

“It says nothing about defunding the police,” Wallace said.

“Oh really? It says abolish, it says -- let’s go. Get me the charter, please.”

An aide brought the document, and Wallace was right--it did not address taking money away from police departments.

Federal agents in unmarked cars, 'wall of moms': Here's what's happening in Portland

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/07/20/portland-protests-federal-agents-unmarked-cars-and-walls-moms/5470780002/

The agents come from the U.S. Marshals Special Operations Group and an elite U.S. Customs and Border Protection team based on the U.S.-Mexico border and have been deployed to protect federal property.

Last week, video also surfaced of the federal authorities using unmarked vehicles to detain people, seemingly without an explanation.

 

'They Just Started Waling On Me': Violence In Portland As U.S. Agents Clamp Down

https://www.npr.org/sections/live-updates-protests-for-racial-justice/2020/07/20/893082598/they-just-started-whaling-violence-tension-as-u-s-agents-clamp-down-in-portland

President Trump defended the federal response. "We are trying to help Portland, not hurt it," he tweeted on Sunday. "Their leadership has, for months, lost control of the anarchists and agitators. They are missing in action. We must protect Federal property, AND OUR PEOPLE."

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf brushed aside criticism that federal officers are inciting violence.

"I don't need invitations by the state, state mayors or state governors to do our job," Wolf said Monday on Fox News. "We're going to do that, whether they like us there or not."

 

Portland protests: All you need to know about Trump's crackdown

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53473732

 

Senior Democrat Nancy Pelosi said "unidentified Stormtroopers" were "kidnapping protesters". Another Democrat Ro Khanna described those involved as "secret federal agents".

So, who exactly are they?

They belong to a new federal force created last month in an executive order signed by President Trump which tasks them to protect historic monuments, memorials, statues, and federal facilities.

The personnel are drawn from a range of teams including the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency and the US Marshals Service. The Federal Protection Service, part of the Homeland Security and charged with protecting government buildings, also has officers in Portland and has detained protesters.

The US Marshals Service's Special Operations Group says it is "deployed in high-risk and sensitive law enforcement situations, national emergencies, civil disorder and natural disasters."

When asked about the arrest of a protester captured on video, the CBP said the individual was suspected of destroying federal property. They said agents had identified themselves and were wearing CBP insignia but their names were not displayed "due to recent doxing incidents against law enforcement personnel who serve and protect our country."

Some of those CBP agents in Portland photographed in camouflage are in the Border Patrol Tactical Unit, the agency's equivalent to a Swat team.

Chris Wallace's interview of Trump reveals his lies, racism, callousness and cognitive decline

Navy veteran praised as 'Captain Portland' after beating by federal officers during riots

https://www.foxnews.com/us/portland-protest-navy-veteran-federal-officers-baton-pepper-spray

Federal officers were seen in a video that has since gone viral striking a Navy veteran with a baton and firing tear gas at him when he failed to pull back from a federal courthouse in Portland, Ore., Saturday night.

Christopher David, 53, was seen standing with his arms at his side in front of a group of federal officers outside the Mark O. Hatfield Courthouse Saturday night. One federal officer strikes him at least three times with a baton before another uses a can of pepper spray on his eyes, according to a video of the incident first shared by Portland Tribune reporter Zane Sparling.

David, wearing a white sweatshirt with the word Navy written across, a mask and a black backpack, walks away from the federal officers, flipping them the middle finger. The 11-second video clip has since been viewed more than 9.5 million times.

David, a Portland resident who served in the U.S. Navy for more than eight years, said he took the bus downtown to join protesters and looked for federal officers before he “stood in the street in front of them and I started asking them if it was OK to violate their oath of the Constitution.”