The feds say they won't leave Portland until the violence stops. Privately, they concede they're fueling that violence.


The top federal prosector in Oregon, U.S. Attorney Billy Williams, said Monday that the federal agents aggressively policing protesters in Portland would remain in the city until the "attacks on federal property and personnel" cease. Oregon officials say the presence and shock-and-awe tactics of the federal agents are the main fuel for those attacks, and federal law enforcement officials privately concede they have a point, Oregon Public Broadcasting reports.
The nightly protests against racism and police violence in downtown Portland had dwindled to about 100 people before President Trump sent in federal agents over the July 4 weekend. The protests grew again after U.S. Marshals, ostensibly there to protect Portland's federal courthouse, shot 26-year-old protester Donavan La Bella in the head, fracturing his skull, and they exploded after news broke that anonymous militarized federal agents were detaining people on the street in unmarked vans. Thousands now gather nightly in Portland, and similar protests have been reinvigorated in other cities.
"Anytime you shoot someone in the face and beat them with a baton, it's going to be criticized," one federal law enforcement official told OBP. "That's not a controversial statement." Another told OBP, "Crowds were very small and the incident with La Bella." Still, a spokesman for the U.S. Marshals confirmed Monday that about 100 new deputies have been lined up for deployment in Portland, either to bolster the current force or replace exhausted officers.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The harsh crackdown and vilification of protesters in Portland may end up helping Trump politically, "but as a policing tactic, it has failed to suppress the protests," The Washington Post notes. "The escalation has been followed by larger, better-equipped, and more-aggressive crowds, and — as the new reinforcements showed — it exhausted federal resources before it exhausted the protesters."
"Every time we go out into this, we get better at it," Gregory McKelvey, a community organizer in Portland, tells the Post. "When a flash bang first goes off in front of you, you run. But when you realize that one went off right in front of you and nothing happened to you, you're less likely to run the next time." In a bit of circular logic, law enforcement officials say they need even more people on the ground in Portland "to counter those increasingly sophisticated tactics" employed by protesters, OPB reports.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Today's political cartoons - March 31, 2024Cartoons Sunday's cartoons - fooling around, boosting votes, and more
By The Week US Published
-
5 cartoons on the trials and tribulations of Mike JohnsonCartoons Artists take on an attempted ousting, a dumpster full of problems, and more
By The Week US Published
-
The Garrick: unfit for the modern world?Talking Point Founded in 1831, the club is composed solely of men
By The Week UK Published
-
Bankman-Fried gets 25 years for fraudSpeed Read Former "crypto king" Sam Bankman-Fried will report to federal prison
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Feds raid Diddy homes in alleged sex trafficking caseSpeed Read Homeland Security raided the properties of hip hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
'Goon Squad' cops sentenced for torturing 2 Black menSpeed Read The former Mississippi law enforcement officers pleaded guilty last year
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Michigan shooter's dad guilty of manslaughterspeed read James Crumbley failed to prevent his son from killing four students at Oxford High School in 2021
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Shooting at Chiefs victory rally kills 1, injures 21Speed Read Gunfire broke out at the Kansas City Chiefs' Super Bowl victory parade in Missouri
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Court rules Josef Fritzl can be moved to normal prisonSpeed Read 'Notorious' criminal, now 88, was convicted for raping, committing incest and imprisoning his daughter
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK Published
-
Post Office scandal casts new light on Robin Garbutt murder convictionSpeed Read Supporters claim faulty Horizon evidence was key to guilty verdict but victim's mother accuses former postmaster of jumping on bandwagon
By The Week UK Published
-
Uvalde parents want indictments after DOJ's scathing school shooting reportSpeed Read The Justice Department's damning review of the May 2022 school shooting in Texas details 'cascading failures,' but families of the victims want justice
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published