Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Monday spoke out against federal officers “rounding people up at will” in Portland, Ore., saying the handling of unrest there should be left to local law enforcement.
“We cannot give up liberty for security. Local law enforcement can and should be handling these situations in our cities but there is no place for federal troops or unidentified federal agents rounding people up at will,” Paul tweeted Monday.
The senator linked to a post on the conservative blog HotAir about reports of protesters in Portland being detained by officers in unmarked vans. The link criticizes the federal officers’ presence as attempting to convey “to vandals, protesters, whoever, that there’ll be no accountability for anything these guys end up doing to them.”
The Department of Homeland Security has deployed the forces to the city over the objections of local and state officials, with both President Trump and acting Deputy Homeland Security Secretary Ken Cuccinelli saying they could take similar steps in other U.S. cities in coming weeks.
Three House Democratic chairs on Sunday wrote to Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz and Homeland Security Department Inspector General Joseph Cuffari calling for an investigation into the deployment.
“The Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appear to have increasingly abused emergency authorities to justify the use of force against Americans exercising their right to peaceful assembly,” wrote House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and Oversight and Reform Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.).