Originally posted on July 17, 2020
It was reported from Portland, Oregon, that several protesters were “arrested” by what appeared to be unidentified federal officers in unmarked vans. The one example that was related was that of Mark Pettibone, who is a self-professed non-violent protester. He claims (and there’s no reason to doubt his story) he was peacefully protesting when he realized these mysterious “police” jumped out of their mysterious vans and were coming for him. He sank to his knees and put his hands in the air. He was “arrested” and taken to the federal courthouse and a holding cell. After a while he was released.
Nobody ever told him why he was arrested. They didn’t provide him any record of his arrest. He has not been charged with any crimes. Later the Marshals Service claimed he had not been arrested and there were no records of his arrest. I’m thinking in any “law and order” society, this would be called kidnapping. I’m not holding my breath that any explanation of this frightening event will ever surface.
Not content to kidnap and try to intimidate protesters, one of the federal troops shot a protester with a rubber bullet in the head, causing serious injuries. You cannot look at the video of the incident without shock at what we’ve become under Trump’s presidency. You just can’t.
Trump has been bragging about what a good job his federal troops are doing in Portland. I guess any day his “troops” violently attack his critics is a good day.