PORTLAND, Ore. (CN) — Federal police who shot an unarmed protester in the face last weekend in Portland with a “less lethal” weapon should be under the same court order to limit use of such weapons that local police must follow, attorneys argued on Thursday, the same afternoon acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf arrived in the city and called protesters “a violent mob.”
Multiple videos show 26-year-old Donavan LaBella standing across the street from the Mark Hatfield Federal Courthouse, holding a boombox overhead as federal police dressed in army fatigues shoot canisters of tear gas. LaBella leans over to toss a canister back into the center of the street.
Moments after he stands, he collapses before protesters carry him away bleeding. LaBella’s mother told The Oregonian her son had a fractured skull and underwent facial reconstructive surgery.
President Donald Trump said Monday that “Portland was totally out of control” and that federal officers “very much quelled it.”
Wolf, acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, oversees several units of federal police that have violently suppressed Portland’s protests since at least July 4. He appeared on Fox News July 6 to decry the protests.
“We need help and assistance from state and local officials,” Wolf told Fox News. “If they’re not going to protect their cities, the president has been very clear we will. And we will step in.”
Meanwhile, federal police in unmarked vehicles have been grabbing protesters off the streets and detaining them without explanation, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting.
“This is not law and order,” ACLU staff attorney Vera Eidelman said at a press conference on Friday. “This is lawlessness. This is a constitutional nightmare.”
Wolf arrived in Portland Thursday afternoon. He didn’t speak with press, but issued a statement:
“The city of Portland has been under siege for 47 straight days by a violent mob while local political leaders refuse to restore order to protect their city,” Wolf said. “This siege can end if state and local officials decide to take appropriate action instead of refusing to enforce the law. DHS will not abdicate its solemn duty to protect federal facilities and those within them.”
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler said on Twitter that he asked Wolf to leave.
“We’re aware that they’re here,” Wheeler said. “We wish they weren’t. We haven’t been invited to meet with them and if we were, we would decline.”
But early Thursday, Wheeler — commissioner for both police and Portland parks — directed police to clear Lownsdale and Chapman Squares, two parks across from the Multnomah County Justice Center and the federal courthouse, where protesters have gathered nightly for six weeks. The move turned out to be hours before Wolf’s arrival.
Wheeler’s office said the mayor spoke with Wolf Tuesday but didn’t know about his planned visit. Spokesman Tim Becker told Courthouse News the move to clear the parks has been in the works since early this week.
“There’s no connection between our decision to close the parks and Secretary Wolf’s arrival in Portland,” Becker said.
On Friday, after the story of federal police in unmarked cars whisking protesters off the streets without probable cause had made national news, Wheeler issued more forceful statements.
“We need our president to be held accountable,” Wheeler said. “He cannot continue to quell free speech. He cannot alter the foundation of American democracy. He cannot use federal agencies as his own personal army. Mr. President, we see right through you. We see what you’re doing. So do us a favor. Keep your troops in your own buildings and have them leave our city.”