Commissioner Chloe Eudaly Says Portland Police Have “Collaborated With Federal Occupiers”

“Portland is just a test run,” she wrote. “The Department of Homeland Security has openly stated that they intend to replicate these tactics in cities across the nation.”

Tear gas drifts through downtown Portland on July 18, 2020. (Alex Wittwer)

Portland Commissioner Chloe Eudaly tonight flatly accused the Portland Police Bureau of coordinating forceful crackdowns on protesters with the federal forces occupying the city.

"The Portland Police Bureau has collaborated with federal occupiers," Eudaly wrote in a statement. "This collaboration needs to end immediately."

Eudaly did not provide evidence for her assertion, but reports from downtown over the weekend lend credence to the idea that Portland cops were working in tandem with Homeland Security and Border Patrol officers in clearing demonstrators from around the federal courthouses. The two law enforcement agencies acted simultaneously, after announcing a deadline for protesters to scatter.

Eudaly joins Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty in decrying coordination between Portland and federal cops. Mayor Ted Wheeler removed a Federal Protective Service staffer from the police incident command center over the weekend.

The violent behavior of federal officers in Portland is the subject of global attention, as President Donald Trump prepares to deploy them to other cities that have experienced civil unrest.

Tonight, Eudaly demanded the feds leave town—she even posted her statement with a picture of a doormat reading, "GO AWAY."

"Portland is just a test run—the Department of Homeland Security has openly stated that they intend to replicate these tactics in cities across the nation," she wrote. "Cities that believe that Black lives matter, that demand racial equity, and are striving toward justice. Portland will not stand for this. Portland will not be a proving ground for fascism."

Eudaly also called for federal officers to cease targeting journalists and legal observers—something Portland police are legally enjoined from doing. On Sunday night, several journalists reported officers hit them with munitions, even after they identified themselves as press.

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