Acting DHS secretary: Sending federal law enforcement to Portland is ‘on the table’

Acting Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Chad Wolf said Sunday that sending federal law enforcement back to Portland, Ore. to address the protests remains “on the table” after one person was fatally shot late Saturday.

Wolf told ABC’s “This Week” that “all options continue to be on the table” when asked if President Trump’s administration is considering sending in additional federal law enforcement, even if state and local officials decline to ask for assistance. 

{mosads}“When we talk about Portland, again they continue to refuse any type of federal assistance to bring that violent activity going on for … a little over 90 days to a close,” he said.

 “The citizens of Portland want this. We need to bring some normalcy back to Portland,” he added. “And, again, if the state and local officials won’t do it, they need to ask for assistance from the federal government.” 

NEW: “I believe all options continue to be on the table, specifically as we talk about Portland,” acting DHS Sec. Chad Wolf tells @jonkarl when asked if President Trump is considering sending federal law enforcement in defiance of local leaders. https://t.co/qwpuubd9oE pic.twitter.com/6WTRPz989b

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) August 30, 2020

Wolf slammed local and state officials for not requesting federal assistance for the protests, accusing them of “not allowing law enforcement to do their job and really to bring this violent activity night after night after night to a close.” 

Wolf also instructed protesters of “any group” to demonstrate “peacefully.”

“Across the ideological spectrum, left or right, the violence needs to end,” he said.

“Once you cross the line to violence, that is what’s concerning to the Department of Homeland Security,” he added. “That’s what I’m focused on: making sure that we bring any type of violence in any of our cities to a close.”

Acting DHS Sec. Chad Wolf tells @jonkarl local and state officials in Portland “are not allowing law enforcement to do their job” to “bring this violent activity … to a close.”

“Across the ideological spectrum, left or right, the violence needs to end.” https://t.co/FqeRslh7U7 pic.twitter.com/MXdWE12lrW

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) August 30, 2020

Appearing on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Wolf demurred on whether he believed pro-Trump groups should leave Portland.

“We need [local officials] to do their job, we need them to step up, and if they can’t, if they don’t have the ability or the resources, ask the federal government, we’ll provide the resources for them as we’ve done in Wisconsin and others, so that we can address any violence across the spectrum,” he said.

Wolf also said the president approvingly tweeting a video of Trump supporters driving into the city “absolutely [did] not” heighten tensions, instead again calling for Portland officials to “step up” against “any violent activity that is occurring in their streets.”

Protests turned deadly on Saturday after Black Lives Matter and supporters of President Trump clashed. The victim in the fatal shooting was reportedly wearing a hat labeled “Patriot Prayer,” a right-wing group that has quarreled with Portland demonstrators. 

The Portland demonstrations have continued since the May death of George Floyd, a Black man in Minneapolis police custody, which sparked international protests. In July, tensions increased in the Oregon city after the president deployed federal law enforcement to the city to protect a federal courthouse.

–This report was updated at 11:07 a.m.