Conservatives, libertarians push back on Portland crackdown | Washington Times - David Sherfinski:
July 21, 2020 - "President Trump’s deployment of federal officers to quell rioting in Portland, Oregon, and possibly elsewhere is seeing pushback not only from Democrats but also from conservatives and libertarians who say the federal government can’t indiscriminately throw its weight around and trample on constitutional rights. The White House insists the federal forces are necessary to stop the marauding mobs in Portland, but civil libertarians object to reports that unidentified officers are sweeping people up and detaining them.
"'It’s pretty straight-up unconstitutional,' said Nicholas Sarwark, a former chairman of the Libertarian National Committee. 'I wish I could nuance this one.... There’s nothing good there.'
"The White House said the law that created the Department of Homeland Security after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks gives the agency authority to protect federal property, which is the administration’s reason for the deployment in Portland to protect a federal courthouse. Mr. Trump has [also] said he might send federal agents into Chicago and other big cities wracked by violent crime in the wake of the racial justice upheaval and calls to defund police departments.
"The federal government does have 'disturbingly broad authorities' to send law enforcers anywhere in the country if it chooses, said Walter Olson, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, a libertarian Washington think tank. 'That doesn’t mean that there shouldn’t be a political fight about it,' he said....
"Sen. Rand Paul, Kentucky Republican, objected to the Trump administration’s sending 'unidentified' federal agents to Portland. 'We cannot give up liberty for security,' Mr. Paul said on Twitter. 'Local law enforcement can and should be handling these situations in our cities, but there is no place for federal troops or unidentified federal agents rounding people up at will.'
"Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan, a Libertarian who quit the Republican Party last year, said on Twitter: 'Donald Trump is deploying unmarked federal police, decked out like a paramilitary force, to grab Americans off the streets. He’s not protecting liberty; he’s practicing tyranny'....
"U.S. Customs and Border Protection has jurisdiction of areas in the U.S. that are within 100 miles of an external boundary. 'That gives broader authority for Customs and Border [Protection] in particular to operate than folks may realize,' said Jonathan Adler, a professor at the Case Western Reserve University School of Law. But there is no 'generic federal police authority,' he said. 'Nor should there be.... That’s the sort of power that was reserved to the states'....
"Sarwark said that people backing the president’s actions can’t seriously defend the situation from a constitutional perspective. 'This will separate the sheep from the goats,” he said. “If you don’t oppose secret police disappearing people off of American streets because they’re leftists, then you’re not really opposed to secret police — you’re just opposed to it being used against people you like.'"
Read more: https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/jul/21/federal-agents-portland-opposed-some-conservatives/
July 21, 2020 - "President Trump’s deployment of federal officers to quell rioting in Portland, Oregon, and possibly elsewhere is seeing pushback not only from Democrats but also from conservatives and libertarians who say the federal government can’t indiscriminately throw its weight around and trample on constitutional rights. The White House insists the federal forces are necessary to stop the marauding mobs in Portland, but civil libertarians object to reports that unidentified officers are sweeping people up and detaining them.
"'It’s pretty straight-up unconstitutional,' said Nicholas Sarwark, a former chairman of the Libertarian National Committee. 'I wish I could nuance this one.... There’s nothing good there.'
"The White House said the law that created the Department of Homeland Security after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks gives the agency authority to protect federal property, which is the administration’s reason for the deployment in Portland to protect a federal courthouse. Mr. Trump has [also] said he might send federal agents into Chicago and other big cities wracked by violent crime in the wake of the racial justice upheaval and calls to defund police departments.
"The federal government does have 'disturbingly broad authorities' to send law enforcers anywhere in the country if it chooses, said Walter Olson, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, a libertarian Washington think tank. 'That doesn’t mean that there shouldn’t be a political fight about it,' he said....
"Sen. Rand Paul, Kentucky Republican, objected to the Trump administration’s sending 'unidentified' federal agents to Portland. 'We cannot give up liberty for security,' Mr. Paul said on Twitter. 'Local law enforcement can and should be handling these situations in our cities, but there is no place for federal troops or unidentified federal agents rounding people up at will.'
"Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan, a Libertarian who quit the Republican Party last year, said on Twitter: 'Donald Trump is deploying unmarked federal police, decked out like a paramilitary force, to grab Americans off the streets. He’s not protecting liberty; he’s practicing tyranny'....
"U.S. Customs and Border Protection has jurisdiction of areas in the U.S. that are within 100 miles of an external boundary. 'That gives broader authority for Customs and Border [Protection] in particular to operate than folks may realize,' said Jonathan Adler, a professor at the Case Western Reserve University School of Law. But there is no 'generic federal police authority,' he said. 'Nor should there be.... That’s the sort of power that was reserved to the states'....
"Sarwark said that people backing the president’s actions can’t seriously defend the situation from a constitutional perspective. 'This will separate the sheep from the goats,” he said. “If you don’t oppose secret police disappearing people off of American streets because they’re leftists, then you’re not really opposed to secret police — you’re just opposed to it being used against people you like.'"
Read more: https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/jul/21/federal-agents-portland-opposed-some-conservatives/
