Hundreds of demonstrators jammed the streets of Portland, Oregon, overnight on Thursday, leading to police arrests and confrontations with federal officers who protesters said deployed tear gas and impact munitions to keep people away from federal buildings.
The chaotic night was the latest violence to flare in Portland, which Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf had visited earlier Thursday, saying the city had been "under siege for 47 straight days by a violent mob" and criticizing local leaders for failing to stop "lawless anarchists" from destroying property.
On Fox News on Friday, Wolf said the Department of Homeland Security's law enforcement force was in Portland, where "we have about a hundred or so federal officers there to make sure that we support that courthouse, defend that courthouse." He later tweeted that two officers were injured after DHS officers were "assaulted" with lasers and frozen water bottles from "violent criminals attempting to tear down federal property."
Videos on social media show the frenzy across parts of the city, with federal officers in camouflage aiming their weapons and using smoke to press protesters back. In other videos, officers are seen shoving people to the ground and striking them with batons. Crowds also disperse from apparent tear gas.
During Thursday night's protests, Portland police said its officers did not use tear gas.
Protesters have hit the streets nightly for the past two months since the police killing of George Floyd, a Black man whose death in Minneapolis triggered global demonstrations against police brutality and systemic racism.
The Portland Police Bureau said early Friday it made "several arrests" after responding to a group of a couple hundred people in southeast Portland Thursday night and then another large group downtown near the Justice Center, which includes the city's jail.
Police said there were attempts to start fires and people ripped down fencing around a courthouse square to block traffic. Protesters hit officers with bottles and other objects, according to police, and they said they made "targeted arrests" before midnight. Police also said a vehicle "associated with the group" drove up behind officers and almost hit them, "causing an extremely dangerous situation. The vehicle was later stopped. After successfully making several arrests, officers disengaged the crowd."
It's unclear which agencies the federal officers who were deployed Thursday night came from.
A U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson told NBC News that Border Patrol agents, who fall under DHS, have been in Portland to protect federal facilities as part of President Donald Trump's recent executive order that punishes the vandalism of federal monuments and government property.
The agency, however, said it does not give out specific details on the individuals deployed because it could jeopardize operational security.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Marshals Service has been involved in an investigation in the city after a member of the Marshals' service tactical unit reportedly shot a man in the head during a protest Saturday. He was critically wounded, according to The Oregonian.
While the agency was aware of the shooting of the man, the incident remains under investigation.
U.S. Marshals said they are performing security at the federal courthouse in the city, but when asked if they were involved in incidents seen on videos off of federal property, agency spokesman Drew Wade said in a statement Friday that the officers are not deputy U.S. Marshals.
The DHS has listed nearly 100 criminal incidents, including ones of vandalism, graffiti, fires and assaults on officers, since late May.
The intervention of the federal government and its use of officers on Portland's streets has touched off a debate between federal officials and state and local leaders about who has authority.
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler said he never asked for help with the protests from the federal government.
"It is irresponsible and it is escalating an already tense situation," he tweeted Thursday. "Remove your heightened troop presence now."
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, a Democrat, tweeted Thursday evening that she had asked Wolf to remove all federal officers from the city's streets. She called the deployment of those officers in Portland a "blatant abuse of power by the federal government."
"He is putting both Oregonians and local law enforcement officers in harm's way," Brown said.
Homeland Security acting Deputy Secretary Ken Cuccinelli said Friday on Fox News that the federal government has the right to step in and protect its facilities.
"There is also the question you see in Portland. There is a federal courthouse," Cuccinelli said. "The federal government is responsible for protecting that facility and the area around it."
Emmanuelle Saliba contributed.
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