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DHS Dep Sec Cuccinelli tells NPR not only are they not stopping the Portland tactics, they're ...
SoManyMeanBooksHat RetweetedDeputy Secretary of DHS Ken Cuccinelli tells NPR not only are they not stopping the Portland tactics they're going to take them nationwide. https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/dhs-under-boss-were-taking-this-national via
@TPM
Link to tweet
NATIONAL
DHS Official On Reports Of Federal Officers Detaining Protesters In Portland, Ore.
July 17, 2020 3:55 PM ET
Heard on All Things Considered
6-Minute Listen
NPR's Sarah McCammon talks with acting Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Ken Cuccinelli about reports of federal officers using unmarked vehicles to detain protesters in Portland, Ore.
SARAH MCCAMMON, HOST:
Federal agents in unmarked vans are picking up and detaining protesters on the streets of Portland, Ore. That's according to reporting from Oregon Public Broadcasting. Protests spurred by the death of George Floyd have been a constant in the city for more than six weeks, but this week accounts from protesters suggest federal law enforcement is using tactics that are being questioned by civil rights advocates. And the U.S. attorney in Oregon is asking for a federal investigation based on those accounts. Joining me now to talk about it is Ken Cuccinelli, the acting deputy secretary of Homeland Security.
Welcome to the program.
KEN CUCCINELLI: Good afternoon.
MCCAMMON: So first question - are federal agents using unmarked vehicles to pick up protesters in U.S. cities?
CUCCINELLI: Well, in Portland, they have. I wouldn't say this is used anywhere else, but that was done obviously to keep both the officers safe and also, when crowds gathered, to move people to a safe location for questioning. In the one instance I'm familiar with, they were - believed they had identified someone who had assaulted officers or a position - a federal building there, the courthouse. Upon questioning, they determined they were - they did not have the right person, and that person was released. So - but all that questioning took place out of reach of a mob that had been gathering in one point, so that's how that concluded.
MCCAMMON: You're saying there was just one case. Are you talking about the protester Mark Pettibone, who spoke with my colleagues at Oregon Public Broadcasting?
CUCCINELLI: I'm not sure the name of the particular individual, so I can't answer that one.
MCCAMMON: Well, this gentleman said he was pulled into an unmarked van full of armed men who didn't identify themselves, driven to a building he only found out after being released was a federal courthouse, not the county jail where local law enforcement would take him. Why - can you comment, first of all, on this allegation?
CUCCINELLI: Well, I can't speak to this specific instance, but the federal courthouse there is protected by Federal Protective Services, who are being supported by both CBP and ICE officers and - because of the violence there and the graffiti. I'm sure you've seen all of that. And they are attempting to make arrests. They are attempting to identify violent rioters and to then pick them up, arrest them and go and have them prosecuted federally.
MCCAMMON: Are you saying this has only happened once?
CUCCINELLI: The offenses there are federal.
MCCAMMON: Are you saying this has only happened once?
CUCCINELLI: I'm not speaking to the number of times it has happened. I'm telling you what they're doing in terms of a process. And I fully expect that as long as people continue to be violent and to destroy property that we will attempt to identify those folks. We will pick them up in front of the courthouse. If we spot them elsewhere, we will pick them up elsewhere. And if we have a question about somebody's identity - like the first example I noted to you - after questioning determine it isn't someone of interest, then they get released. And that's standard law enforcement procedure, and it's going to continue as long as the violence continues.
{snip}
DHS Official On Reports Of Federal Officers Detaining Protesters In Portland, Ore.
July 17, 2020 3:55 PM ET
Heard on All Things Considered
6-Minute Listen
NPR's Sarah McCammon talks with acting Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Ken Cuccinelli about reports of federal officers using unmarked vehicles to detain protesters in Portland, Ore.
SARAH MCCAMMON, HOST:
Federal agents in unmarked vans are picking up and detaining protesters on the streets of Portland, Ore. That's according to reporting from Oregon Public Broadcasting. Protests spurred by the death of George Floyd have been a constant in the city for more than six weeks, but this week accounts from protesters suggest federal law enforcement is using tactics that are being questioned by civil rights advocates. And the U.S. attorney in Oregon is asking for a federal investigation based on those accounts. Joining me now to talk about it is Ken Cuccinelli, the acting deputy secretary of Homeland Security.
Welcome to the program.
KEN CUCCINELLI: Good afternoon.
MCCAMMON: So first question - are federal agents using unmarked vehicles to pick up protesters in U.S. cities?
CUCCINELLI: Well, in Portland, they have. I wouldn't say this is used anywhere else, but that was done obviously to keep both the officers safe and also, when crowds gathered, to move people to a safe location for questioning. In the one instance I'm familiar with, they were - believed they had identified someone who had assaulted officers or a position - a federal building there, the courthouse. Upon questioning, they determined they were - they did not have the right person, and that person was released. So - but all that questioning took place out of reach of a mob that had been gathering in one point, so that's how that concluded.
MCCAMMON: You're saying there was just one case. Are you talking about the protester Mark Pettibone, who spoke with my colleagues at Oregon Public Broadcasting?
CUCCINELLI: I'm not sure the name of the particular individual, so I can't answer that one.
MCCAMMON: Well, this gentleman said he was pulled into an unmarked van full of armed men who didn't identify themselves, driven to a building he only found out after being released was a federal courthouse, not the county jail where local law enforcement would take him. Why - can you comment, first of all, on this allegation?
CUCCINELLI: Well, I can't speak to this specific instance, but the federal courthouse there is protected by Federal Protective Services, who are being supported by both CBP and ICE officers and - because of the violence there and the graffiti. I'm sure you've seen all of that. And they are attempting to make arrests. They are attempting to identify violent rioters and to then pick them up, arrest them and go and have them prosecuted federally.
MCCAMMON: Are you saying this has only happened once?
CUCCINELLI: The offenses there are federal.
MCCAMMON: Are you saying this has only happened once?
CUCCINELLI: I'm not speaking to the number of times it has happened. I'm telling you what they're doing in terms of a process. And I fully expect that as long as people continue to be violent and to destroy property that we will attempt to identify those folks. We will pick them up in front of the courthouse. If we spot them elsewhere, we will pick them up elsewhere. And if we have a question about somebody's identity - like the first example I noted to you - after questioning determine it isn't someone of interest, then they get released. And that's standard law enforcement procedure, and it's going to continue as long as the violence continues.
{snip}
20 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
The Federal Protective Service is a law enforcement and security agency with a long history of protecting U.S. government facilities and safeguarding the millions of employees, contractors, and visitors who pass through them every day. Its history dates back to 1790 when six "night watchmen" were hired to protect government buildings in the newly designated nation’s capital that became Washington, D.C. Over time, the network of security guards grew and evolved and was once known as the U.S. Special Police. The Federal Protective Service was formally established by the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) in 1971 with the mission of protecting federal facilities and their occupants. When the Homeland Security Act of 2002 was passed, FPS was transferred from GSA to the newly formed Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and structured within U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. On October 28, 2009, the DHS Fiscal Year 2010 Appropriations Act transferred FPS to the National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD).
My personal opinion, "night watchmen" isn't in quotes for no special reason. Washington became very sensitive to spies starting in 1753. Counterintelligence and counterinsurgency have been around for a very long time. I think lots groups that have interests in domestic surveillance have unofficial agreements of cooperation from parts of some US executive departments. There are instances of military officers from Five Eyes nations holding senior positions within US intelligence agencies. Other than the FBI, most US "spy groups" are restricted from domestic operations. "Friendly" foreign government groups may have no such commitments.
That’s all they’ve got. DHS is calling the protesters “violent anarchists,” but the vast majority of the crimes that DHS is investigating are “defacement of public property,” i.e. graffiti. The DHS folks must be AWFULLY BORED if this is the kind of crime we need to have paramilitary swat teams investigating.
-Laelth
