The watchdog investigation will examine use-of-force allegations in Portland, where the city’s top federal prosecutor and mayor both have publicly complained. In Washington, investigators will look at the training and instruction provided to the federal agents who responded to protest activity at Lafayette Square, near the White House, OregonLive reported.
Among the questions being studied are whether the agents followed Justice Department guidelines, including on identification requirements and in the deployment of chemical agents and use of force.
The investigation was announced amid ongoing nightly chaos in parts of Portland’s downtown. Federal agents tear-gassed Mayor Ted Wheeler and nearby protesters as Wheeler stood outside the federal courthouse.
Local authorities in both cities have complained that the presence of federal agents have exacerbated tensions on the streets, while residents have accused the government of violating their constitutional rights.
Civil unrest escalated in Portland after Oregon’s attorney general accused federal agents of whisking people away in unmarked cars without probable cause in at least two instances. And in Washington, peaceful protesters were violently cleared from the streets by federal officers using tear gas.
The US attorney for Oregon asked the Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General last week to launch an investigation into the matter.
The decision to dispatch federal agents to American cities is playing out at a hyperpoliticized moment when Trump is grasping for a new reelection strategy after the coronavirus upended the economy, dismantling what his campaign had seen as his ticket to a second term.
Trump has seized on a moment of spiking violence in some cities, claiming it will only rise if his Democratic rival Joe Biden is elected in November and Democrats have a chance to make the police reforms they have endorsed after the killing of George Floyd and nationwide protests demanding racial justice.
The federal response is likely to be a major topic of discussion next week when Attorney General William Barr appears before the House Judiciary Committee for a hearing.
