Eighty criminal justice leaders — including eight attorneys general and 12 current or former police chiefs and sheriffs from around the U.S. — filed a brief backing a lawsuit challenging the federal deployment and tactics of officers in Portland this summer, The Oregonian reports. They contend federal law enforcement agencies exceeded their authority and that their ongoing and threatened presence in cities around the nation risks public trust and safety. The brief supports the nonprofit Don’t Shoot Portland’s suit against the federal Homeland Security and Justice departments. The suit aims at the federal “Operation Diligent Valor,” which brought at least 114 federal officers to Portland in July to safeguard the downtown federal courthouse during protests against racial injustice and police violence. It alleges federal officers violated the free speech of demonstrators, used excessive force, overstepped their authority and acted under the command of someone who hasn’t been confirmed to head Homeland Security.
The brief says the “deeply concerning and violent actions of federal agents against peaceful protesters have damaged already-fragile bonds of trust with law enforcement. This type of aggressive and unwelcome federal law enforcement intervention hinders the ability of local law enforcement and local prosecutors to keep their communities safe.” Attorneys General of Oregon, Washington state, Vermont, Minnesota, Maryland, Delaware, Illinois and the District of Columbia signed the brief. Federal attorneys are urging a judge to dismiss the suit. In briefs, they defend the federal officers’ actions, writing that peaceful protests in Portland “regularly turned riotous and violent in the middle of the night, necessitating crowd-control and dispersal actions by federal agents tasked with defending” the federal courthouse.