Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler (D) called accusations federal police to remove protesters in his city “completely unconstitutional.”
Wheeler said, “The president has a complete misunderstanding of cause and effect. What’s happening here is we have dozens if not hundreds of federal troops descending upon our city. What they’re doing is they are sharply escalating the situation. Their presence here is actually leading to more violence and more vandalism. And it’s not helping the situation at all. They’re not wanted here. We haven’t asked them here. In fact, we want them to leave.”
Host Jake Tapper asked, “The ACLU filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration Friday night as did your state attorney general. She accused federal agents of a, quote, ‘escalation of fear in violence.’ Do you think the Trump administration is breaking the law in your city?”
Wheeler said, “I absolutely do. The tactics that the Trump administration is using on the streets of Portland are abhorrent. People are being literally scooped off the street into unmarked vans, rental cars, apparently. They are being denied probable cause. And they are denied due process. They don’t even know who’s pulling them into the vans. The people aren’t identifying themselves. And as far as I can see, this is completely unconstitutional.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
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