By Steve Pomper
In early September 2020, the U.S. Marshals Service deputized members of the Oregon State Police. The New York Post reported this allows troopers to charge rioters they arrest, federally, so the penalties can be stiffer (or so there will actually be penalties). Emphasizing the radicals over the good Oregonians under siege in Portlandia, Governor Kate Brown’s deputy communications director, Charles Boyle, gave this hackneyed statement:
“They [police] are committed to working with our community, the goal of protecting free speech, keeping the peace, and keeping people safe as they exercise their right to peaceful protest.” I’m not sure the governor would recognize a peaceful protest. At least, she doesn’t seem to.
The Marshals took this action because the local Multnomah District Attorney Mike Schmidt refuses to prosecute “protesters.” He claims he believes officers’ efforts are “best used to maintain public safety” (I did not know Schmidt has an apparent second career as a stand-up comedian.”
Because of the inaction of state, county, and local officials to allow cops to quell the nightly riots, suburban law enforcement refused Gov. Brown’s request for assistance in Portland. Sheriffs and police chiefs do not want to put their cops in a position where political officials would not support their mission.
In a humorous, but not surprising turn, Portland officials agreed to allow the Marshals to also deputize the city’s police officers assigned to crowd management duty. However, according to the Oregonian, city officials whine they didn’t realize the “designation will last for at least the rest of the year, according to the city attorney.” Oregon officials moonlighting as comedians has got to stop.
So, officials are now “asking the U.S. Attorney’s Office to remove the status from more than 50 officers who… respond to nightly protests.” Mayor Wheeler and City Attorney Tracey Reeve “thought the federal status would last only through the weekend.”
It appears city officials allowed the deputizing because of an upcoming Proud Boys demonstration. Now, that “white supremacist” group headed by a black Cuban man and which has black female members, the district attorney would prosecute for spitting on the sidewalk.
I have to pause for a moment here, as more comedians arrive on stage. A comic quartet from the Oregonian, after well over 100 days of straight far-left extremist rioting, delivered this hilarious opening comment: “A national call for far-right extremists to descend on a Portland park Saturday did not result in the extreme violence with counter-protesters that state and city leaders feared.” Since when do Gov. Brown and Mayor Wheeler fear “extreme violence.” They’ve been allowing it to occur in Portland every day for the past four months.
The U.S. Marshals say they will not rescind the “federal deputization of certain Portland police, state troopers and Multnomah County sheriff’s deputies, saying it serves as a deterrent to violence during protests and helps protect officers.” U.S. Marshal Russ Burger who, in a joint statement with U.S. Attorney for Oregon, Billy J. Williams, said, “Importantly, the federal deputation supports front line law enforcement officers and their families in a way that they have not seen from City Hall.” The designation further protects deputized troopers, deputies, and officers by allowing federal prosecutors to charge suspects with assaults on federal officers.
Not a big fan of the second worst mayor in America (after NYC’s Bill de Blasio, I mean after Seattle’s Jenny Durkan, I mean after Minneapolis’ Jacob Frey, I mean…. well, you get my point), this was my favorite part of the story: “The deputization of 56 Portland officers and 22 county deputies will last until Dec. 31, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, despite the Portland mayor’s opposition and request for a halt to the designation.”
Joining with his political comrades in their side-jobs as comedians, is the director of the Oregon Justice Resource Center. He put on his Ché beret and then accused his adversaries of doing what his side is doing. “What were they thinking for God’s sake? It’s a naked attempt at a power grab a month before the election. It’s the makings of a fascist takeover. It’s the usurpation of federalism to punish political dissidence.”
See? That’s exactly what those anti-cop forces at his end of the political spectrum are trying to do. And we also see they won’t allow the cops to use all their tools to stop left-wing rioters, but they chomp at the bit to allow cops to enforce laws—even federal laws—against right-wing counter-protesters. Then again, Gov. Brown and Mayor Wheeler have never been big on equal justice; they prefer socialist justice.