Acting deputy Department of Homeland Security Secretary Ken Cuccinelli Friday denied claims made by Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and others that "secret police" sent by President Donald Trump and the federal government are provoking violence in Portland, insisting that the government instead has "been very openly trying to keep the law enforced."
"We don't, by the way, have any secret police as the senator referred to," Cuccinelli said on Fox News' "Fox and Friends" Friday.
"It's interesting to say gee, we provoked violence when this has been going on longer than the rains for Noah's Ark. This was more than 40 days in a row. We were not there in significant force in the last few weeks as things continued to escalate."
Thursday, Wyden tweeted that a "peaceful protester in Portland was shot in the head by one of Donald Trump’s secret police. Now Trump and Chad Wolf are weaponizing the DHS as their own occupying army to provoke violence on the streets of my hometown because they think it plays well with right-wing media."
The protester, Donavan LaBella, 26, was shot in the head with an impact munition on July 11, causing him to suffer facial and skull fractures, reports OPB (Oregon Public Broadcasting). In addition, videos have surfaced of unidentifiable federal agents, wearing tactical gear and arresting protesters on the streets, and protesters have complained that they have been detained by them and taken away in unmarked vehicles, OPB reported Thursday.
Cuccinelli also said Wyden's complaints make him sound like "he's on the side of these violent folks."
"Let's not kid ourselves," he said. "These aren't protesters. These are criminals. They are looters. They are seeking opportunities to destroy, and, frankly, to hurt law enforcement officials. Both local, the police bureau there in Portland, who have their hands tied."
Trump, he added, is "determined to do what he can to push that down. We can't do it everywhere. But he is determined to bring more peace across some of these violent cities."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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