The pictures of federal agents in camouflage, without badges, on the streets of Portland, Oregon, attacking protesters, unprovoked, most peacefully protesting the killing of George Floyd, is the scariest thing out of many scary things President Trump has done while in office. What happened to the First Amendment to the Constitution?
As a constitutional law professor told The Associated Press for a news article published in this paper (“Federal agents, local streets: A ‘red flag’ in Oregon,” July 21, Page A4): “It is a standard move of authoritarians to use the pretext of quelling violence to bring in force, thereby prompting a violent response and then bootstrapping the initial use of force in the first place.”
Now Trump says he plans to deploy more of these “secret” forces to Chicago and other cities. We should all be afraid at where this is heading.
We all, as Americans, have the right to peacefully protest, it is part of what makes America the democracy we are. Yes, there are a small number of people who are out to create trouble, destroy property, but it is the exception, not the rule.
Local and state authorities are the ones to handle this, as the Oregon governor and mayor of Portland have pleaded.
Beating innocent peaceful protesters and then throwing them in unmarked cars and whisked away to jail is not the America I know. This has to stop, and more people should be outraged and scared.
Tom Levin
Freeport
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