1、CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress Legal SidebarLegal Sidebari i Federal Law Enforcement and the Portland Protests: Legal Considerations July 31, 2020 During the spring and summer of 2020, protests in response to the death of George Floyd erupted in major cities across
2、 the country. Responding to a perceived failure by state and local officials to control the protests, President Trump threatened to take action by, for example, deploying the military into cities to restore order. Recently, in the midst of ongoing protests in Portland, Oregon, the Trump Administrati
3、on deployed hundreds of agents from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Although, according to some, the Portland protests were largely nonviolent, DHS reported numerous instances of what it terms “violent anarchists” committing crimes against federal property, justifying the presence of fede
4、ral officers. Reports of unidentified federal law enforcement officers detaining protestors and transporting them in unmarked vehicles escalated tensions between local officials and the Trump administration. The federal law enforcement presence in Portland comes after federal agents were used to res
