Late Night Terror
You walk the city streets late at night. A van pulls up, and out jumps camouflage suited men, heavily armored and with automatic weapons. They stop you, question you, then place you up against a wall. Your handcuffed and taken away in the van.
Sounds like a grim scene from Cold War East Germany, the Columbian drug wars, or present day Russia. Nothing like this could happen in the United States, and if it did, it certainly wouldn’t be government sponsored, right? To detain someone you have to have “cause”, the legalism for a reason. To place someone under arrest, you need to have “probable cause”, a good reason to believe they have violated the law.
We grant the police authority to question, detain, arrest and charge based on a “social compact”. They get their especial authority, in return for only using it within the confines of the Constitution. The law goes both ways: neither side is supposed to violate it.
Federal Units
But dark vans are patrolling the streets of late night Portland, Oregon. And those camo suited men are stopping cars and pedestrians, seemingly for the “crime” of “being out”. Some of those stopped try to resist, not understanding who is trying to “kidnap” them. One was shot by a “non-lethal” weapon, and is in the hospital with a fractured skull. And in those dark vans aren’t the Portland City Police, nor the Multnomah County Sheriff, nor even the Oregon State Police. They are agents of the Federal government (WAPO).
And they aren’t even the group we regard as the Federal police, the Federal Bureau of Investigation. No, they are U.S. Marshals from the “Special Operations Group”, and the Customs and Border Patrol’s “Tactical Unit”. They aren’t even cops. They are chosen for Portland because of their “special” skills.
The Government of the United States of America has sent a “special operations group” to terrorize the streets of Portland. They are acting at the behest of the President, and against, (yes against), the specific requests of the Mayor of Portland, the Governor of Oregon, and a US Senator. But the acting Secretary of Homeland Security, Chad Wolf, stated that since, “…local politicians refuse to restore order to protect their city” his agents will get the job done. And his acting Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, Mark Morgan, added: “…we’re going to do what needs to be done to protect the men and women of this country”. There’s a lot of “acting” going on.
There have been protests in Portland since George Floyd was killed. And Portland has a history of violent protests over the past few years. But the local authorities have dealt with it. The police in Portland have been tough when they needed to be, using tear gas and force to clear the streets. But they aren’t moving fast enough for Donald Trump.
What Trump Needs
The local strategy doesn’t fit into the narrative of the current Administration in Washington, DC. The “Feds” have to prove how tough they can be, at least, prove it to their political base. They threatened to send Federal troops into Seattle, but backed away at the last moment. They used Federal agents to clear Lafayette Square in Washington, DC, so the President could have his “upside down Bible” photo-op outside of St. John’s Church. And now they are trying to prove their “manhood” in Portland.
It might be different if the Oregon National Guard was Federalized, or the “Insurrection Act” was triggered and the US Army went in. But it is the camo suited “special operations” units. And instead of confronting the protestors to end the protests, they are driving around in the night, terrorizing folks going home.
When the US Government took down right-wing groups in Montana and Idaho, the far right screamed about their First, Second, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment rights being violated. But when the dark vans unload their “tactical squads” in the streets of Portland, not a whimper is heard from the right. Where are Rand Paul and Ted Cruz now? Why aren’t they standing up against Federal government intrusion into state authority? Shouldn’t they be defending Americans against what some might even call terrorism?
Playing for the Base
No, all we hear from them is the chuckling of bullies, getting what they want. From the President on down, we have folks willing to squash the Constitution. A photo-op in front of a church, or frightened protestors up against a wall in Portland: it all plays well for the base.
There’s a contemporary term called “Godwin’s Law”. It says that in any Internet argument, ultimately someone will make a comparison to Hitler or the Nazis. At that point, Godwin states, the discussion is over. A corollary to the “law” is that whoever made the comparison loses the argument, because, nothing is comparable to Hitler or the Nazis.
So there will be no references to “Black Shirts” in this essay.
But it should be a cautionary tale to Americans. These are the sanctioned actions of the government of the United States, our government. If the Trump Administration is willing to do this for largely political gain, what more are they capable of doing? Will the results of November be enough to end this slide into authoritarianism? Will they even accept those results? Or will the camo suited henchmen from DHS and Justice be needed then too.
