Demonstrators protest Portland tactics outside home of DHS chief

Demonstrators protested the tactics federal authorities are using in Portland, Ore., outside the Virginia home of the acting Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary on Sunday.

A group of about 30 protesters gathered outside of acting Secretary Chad Wolf’s Alexandria, Va., home to demonstrate against the reported detainment of protesters in Portland. The crowd of mostly white protesters all wore face masks, The Washington Post reported. 

The group was guided by an Alexandria police patrol car as it marched a block and a half to the house and chanted Black Lives Matter protest slogans. Three police officers were deployed in the side yard of Wolf’s house, and another was in a blue SUV in the driveway, the Post reported.

Speakers at the demonstration condemned the DHS’s involvement in immigrant family separations, deportations and what they described as the “kidnapping” of Portland demonstrators. 

One of Wolf’s neighbors Rebecca Loesberg told the Post that she ordered snacks and water when she learned of the protest to hand out.   

DHS did not immediately return a request to comment. 

President Trump sent federal authorities to respond to protests in Portland this month after they have continued since George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis police custody in May. The dispatched federal law enforcement have reportedly used tear gas and detained protesters.

Trump threatened last week to send federal law enforcement to other cities like Chicago amid unrest and violence. 

The federal response to Portland has prompted other demonstrators across the country to take to the streets, including on Saturday night when several cities declared the gatherings as riots or unlawful assemblies.