Portland standoff: State asks court to rein in federal agents

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Attorneys for the state of Oregon argued Wednesday for a restraining order against federal agents deployed to quell protests in Portland, in a standoff that some legal experts have warned could lead to a constitutional crisis in an election year.

A federal judge heard the state’s and the U.S. government’s arguments in a lawsuit filed by Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, who accuses federal agents of arresting protesters without probable cause, whisking them away in unmarked cars and using excessive force to quell the unrest. Federal authorities have disputed that.

The lawsuit is part of a growing pushback against the Trump administration’s use of federal agents in Portland and its plans to do the same in other cities that is deepening the country’s already considerable political divides. Democratic mayors of 15 cities — including Portland and cities where President Donald Trump has sent or threatened to send federal forces — condemned the use of the agents in a letter to the attorney general.

The hearing Wednesday focused on the actions of more than 100 federal agents responding to protests outside the the city’s Mark O. Hatfield Federal Courthouse, which has been a target for more than 50 nights of demonstrations against racial injustice following the killing of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police.

The motion for a temporary restraining order asks U.S. District Court Judge Michael Mosman to command agents from the Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, the Federal Protective Service and the U.S. Marshals Service to immediately stop detaining protesters without probable cause, to identify themselves and their agency before arresting anyone, and to explain why an arrest is taking place.

During the hearing — held by videoconference because of the coronavirus pandemic — the state acknowledged during the hearing that the federal agents have the right to defend the courthouse, which is federal property, but argued they had overstepped that role.

Rosenblum, the state attorney general, said she was asking the court to “declare it not acceptable for federal officers to use unconstitutional, police state-type acts to detain citizens of Oregon without cause.”

David Morrell, an attorney for the U.S. government, called the motion “extraordinary” and told the court it was based solely on “a few threadbare declarations” from witnesses and a Twitter video.

“It’s important to underscore what’s at stake here. The Hatfield courthouse did not damage itself,” he said, calling the protests “dangerous and volatile.”

It’s not clear when Mosman will rule, but he challenged the state on whether it had the standing to ask for the restraining order. The judge noted that past legal decisions have required a state to establish a very high bar — “quasi-sovereign interest” — in order to successfully sue the U.S. government.

Attorneys for Oregon contended they had met that bar because the actions of the federal agents could erode Oregonians’ trust in all law enforcement, including state and city officers.

But Morrell, the U.S. government attorney, disputed that, saying successful suits usually involved issues that affected many people, not “highly individual interests,” like the arrests.

Read more at: https://apnews.com/edebeb4a7df1c97b10b9ab55a53caa84