Mark Morgan Orders Border Patrol to Patrol Federal Courthouse
Mark A. Morgan, the Acting Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection has ordered U.S. Border Patrol agents to patrol the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse in Portland, Oregon despite that courthouse being nowhere near the border. In a fiery interview with Fox News (video embedded below article) he calls the peaceful protesters that have drastically improved the exterior aesthetics of the building “criminals” that brought “weapons” including “lasers … with the intent to destroy a federal building.” We kept a close eye on the Facebook live streamers the past few nights and the only incendiaries we saw were fireworks. One protester did get arrested with a gun but he never tried to use it. We have seen several incidents of federal officers including U.S. Marshals needlessly storming out of the building and attacking the crowd. Sometimes this has been in response to throwing fireworks at the building or heavier objects at windows, but none of that justified shooting “less than lethal” rounds indiscriminately into the crowd. We have also seen incidents in which the crowds have been dispersed for the most part leaving a few people standing around or filming that have been attacked without anyone throwing anything at the courthouse (https://copblaster.com/blast/25824/u-s-marshals-assault-journalists-with-cs-gas-at-federal-courthouse). At times the feds have established a perimeter around Terry Schrunk Plaza and Chapman Square which are technically owned by the federal government, but they have not stopped there. Federal officers have left federal land at least twice to chase down people whose only offense appears to have been shining green lasers at them from across the park blocks. In those incidents, the feds chased them past the county courthouse which is not on federal land. Unless Governor Kate Brown invited these officers to the state they are violating the state’s sovereignty at that point.
This surge in federal activity around the courthouse was first noticed the day after United States District Judge Michael Simon ordered the Portland Police and those operating at their direction not to target journalists by making them exempt from dispersal orders. It also comes after Governor Brown ordered that tear gas not be used unless life is at risk or a riot has been declared. The Portland Police have responded by leaving journalists alone and declaring more riots. The feds have responded by taking it upon themselves to attack protesters the way the Portland Police had been before the order. This has led to many unsuspecting journalists to think they were safe to film only to be attacked by federal officers not subject to the order. The federal presence has grown more prominent each night since July 3rd when they first stormed out of the courthouse and made their presence known. Last night there was huge a line of military looking men guarding work crews as they worked overtime boarding up the windows of the courthouse. This had a chilling effect on protesters and journalists concerned that they may use lethal force.
What is the border patrol doing guarding a courthouse anyway? Are they lost? If they are there than whose guarding the border? Those are all good questions. They clearly are not lost and the Trump administration has obviously made defending this courthouse from non-violent Americans a higher priority than defending the border from violent illegal aliens. One of Donald Trump’s campaign promises was to build a border wall, but he has not made good on that promise and now not only is he weakening border security, he is using precious plywood to board up windows that could have been used to board up the border. This is turning out to be a great example of Trump’s hypocrisy. A tough on immigration President that promises to build a wall and beef up border security only to waste building supplies and weaken border security. The Border Patrol can’t be in two places at once, so President Trump needs to make up his mind. Does he want broken windows or a broken border?
Until the President can make up his mind, people need to put pressure on Border Patrol officials themselves to honor their oath to protect America by not targeting American citizens.
Published at Mon, 06 Jul 2020 16:19:02 +0000