As protests build in Minneapolis, Portland, Justice Department has scrapped its "Peacemakers" office

Source: CBS News

January 11, 2026 / 4:52 PM EST / CBS News


The Justice Department has a playbook ready for responding to emergencies like the one unfolding in Minneapolis, including containing unrest and defusing community anger or distrust in law enforcement.

In the civil rights era, the agency formed its Community Relations Service, a group of dozens of federal specialists who were informally referred to as "America's peacemaker."

For the type of crisis emerging in Minneapolis, the Community Relations Service had a long-time, fulltime staffer based in Minnesota, and would also immediately deploy its specialists from Chicago, St. Louis, Detroit, Indianapolis and Madison to get on the ground promptly to assist.

At a time when relations between federal agents and the Minneapolis community, Portland and other U.S. cities have been deteriorating, the Justice Department is being criticized for scrapping its playbook, and turning away its "peacemakers." Several sources, including current and former Justice Department employees, said the Trump administration has shuttered the office and has begun pushing out many of the approximately 60 employees who served in the Community Relations Service.

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/justice-department-peacemakers-office-scrapped/