Feds Send Outside Agitators To Escalate Conflict in Portland
Plus: How H-1B visa restrictions cost U.S. jobs, a woman sues the British health service over hormone blockers, and more...
Clampdown in the Northwest. In Oregon this past weekend, federal agents fired tear gas into a group of moms, including one pregnant woman, who were peacefully gathering to demand police reform. They also pummeled the Portland crowd with pepper bombs, according to those on the scene and a plethora of video.
Incredible scene in Portland right now. A group of Moms are chanting, "Feds stay clear! Moms are here!" at the federal courthouse.
— Read Let This Radicalize You (@JoshuaPHilll) July 19, 2020
Federal law enforcement has started making threats of using violence and making arrests, but moms are up front and standing strong. #PortlandProtest pic.twitter.com/GG6RQiBYee
— pdx law grrrl (@pdxlawgrrrl) July 20, 2020
The feds in Portland just indiscriminately launched tear gas at the Moms and started firing pepper rounds and everyone. Horrifying.
— Read Let This Radicalize You (@JoshuaPHilll) July 20, 2020
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents and U.S. marshals dressed in military gear and brandishing large weapons have been stationed in Portland since around the start of the month, per an executive order from President Donald Trump. The feds are allegedly there to protect national monuments and guard against potential domestic terrorism.
Instead, this deliberately intimidating gaggle of outside "law enforcement" officers has been agitating peacefully assembled people who are merely exercising their constitutional rights. This has included shooting one man directly in the head with an impact munition of some sort (sending him to the hospital and necessitating facial reconstruction surgery) and, reportedly, forcing protesters into unmarked vans.
According to an internal Homeland Security memo, "federal agents facing backlash for their militarized approach to Portland were not specifically trained in riot control or mass demonstrations," The New York Times reports.
That doesn't bode well for the idea that they were sent in with mitigation in mind.
Despite federal agent actions last week, large Portland protests continued over the weekend…
"Stay together! Stay tight! We do this every night!" #PortlandProtest pic.twitter.com/Fg4r8MuOQ7
— pdx law grrrl (@pdxlawgrrrl) July 20, 2020
…and so did federal agents acting in unnecessarily hostile and abusive ways:
https://twitter.com/donmoyn/status/1284968099138211840?s=12
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler told CNN on Sunday that "they're not wanted here, we haven't asked them here, in fact we want them to leave." He continued:
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown has suggested the feds' presence was a "deliberate effort to provoke." She told The Washington Post "that her contacts with Trump administration officials about the situation had convinced her that 'they are not interested in problem solving,' and this has 'nothing to do with public safety.'"
After federal law enforcement showed up in riot gear at the protest tonight in Portland, people are chanting: "I don't see no riot here! Take off your riot gear!" #PortlandProtest pic.twitter.com/YhaUJPEvSy
— pdx law grrrl (@pdxlawgrrrl) July 20, 2020
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) last week sought a temporary restraining order against federal agents stationed in Portland. (Read the ACLU motion here.)
And Oregon's Department of Justice is suing the DHS, the U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the Federal Protection Service. The lawsuit, filed in federal court on Saturday, alleges that "they seized and detained Oregonians without probable cause," explains Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum.
Oregon Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley say they'll be introducing legislation to address the situation. "When I get back to DC next week, I will be introducing an amendment to the defense bill with @RonWyden to stop the Trump administration from sending its paramilitary squads onto America's streets," tweeted Merkley on Saturday. "We won't let these authoritarian tactics stand."
Thread. https://t.co/a6Wop7T7g8
— (Stephanie) Slade (@sladesr) July 20, 2020
It's nice to see some lawmakers actually attempting to use their power to stop this, instead of simply trying to score Twitter points with spurious allegations that libertarians aren't freaking out enough.
Senators should be abolishing @DHSgov. https://t.co/SAJAfTR7wv
— Michael F. Cannon ???????????????? (@mfcannon) July 18, 2020
FREE MINDS
A British woman who was given hormone blockers as a teenager is suing the U.K.'s National Health Service. "Keira Bell said the care she received for gender dysphoria, a condition where a person experiences distress due to a mismatch between their biological sex and their gender identity, steered her towards medical treatment," reports Sky News:
Ms Bell, who used to identify as a boy, was 15 when she went to the Tavistock Centre in London. She said after "roughly three sessions" she started receiving hormone blockers.
Eight years later, and after undergoing surgery, Ms Bell is de-transitioning to return to a woman.
Ms Bell wants clinicians to do more to explore the reasons a young person changes gender before they are treated. She believes that during treatment, priority needs to be given to a person's "biological sex as much as their gender identity".
FREE MARKETS
Immigration restrictions kill U.S. jobs:
H-1B visa restrictions cause more offshoring of jobs to Canada, India, & China. Least surprising finding ever.https://t.co/NtlS05MHRq pic.twitter.com/FH9E7RG66u
— The Alex Nowrasteh (@AlexNowrasteh) July 20, 2020
QUICK HITS
Andrew Yang consistently espouses the tech policy views of a smart guy who just started thinking about the issue five minutes ago & hasn't bothered to look up why nobody who's been thinking about it full time for years agrees. https://t.co/upPRi0fSpv
— Julian Sanchez (@normative) July 18, 2020
• Some potentially good news on the COVID-19 front…
Preliminary results from a clinical trial suggest interferon beta reduces the risk of developing severe #COVID19 disease by 79%. If confirmed, this would represent by far the biggest breakthrough in #COVID19 treatment to date. https://t.co/WTt9SrsskX
— Prof Francois Balloux (@BallouxFrancois) July 20, 2020
• …and more bad news: "A rare but serious and potentially deadly inflammatory syndrome believed to be associated with the coronavirus has now been identified in 15 children in Los Angeles County," the Los Angeles Times reports.
• "CEOs have often been ahead of cops and politicians on gay rights": Richard Morrison reviews the book The Queering of Corporate America.
