AllTop Viral!

The protests in Portland, Oregon have become peaceful as the federal agents left, justifying their claim that it was the police who were instigating the violence.

Portland has been protesting for more than 60 straight days after the death of George Floyd. While other cities’ protests have slowed down, Portland’s has gained steam, not only because their demands to defund the police have not yet been met, but also because the protestors fear that their First Amendment rights are being infringed upon. Cities around the nation have gathered in solidarity with Portland.

PBS News Hour has a brief video describing the protests, which have been generally peaceful but have drawn violent responses from local and federal police.

Although Trump claims he wants to stop the unrest in Portland, city officials say the troops are only making things worse. One wonders if that’s what Trump wants, given the debacle at a press briefing last week, when White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany played a supercut of the worst moments the recent nationwide protests, including one woman wishing death on the police. The video was such a blatant attempt to cherrypick the ugliest parts of an otherwise overwhelmingly peaceful movement that even Fox News cut away from the briefing. But the administration’s goal is clear: try to get the protestors to look bad.

Trying to capitalize on the “law and order” vote, Trump has said that he is willing to send as many as 75,000 federal agents to cities to quash “violent crime,” which appears to be code for protestors. This could be catastrophic for our civil rights, since an attorney arrested by the federal police in Oregon, said police did not read her her rights, constituting a major civil rights violation.

More news.