Portland protests: Why is the Internet calling 'proactive arrests' an edition of 'Minority Report'?
On Tuesday, July 21, President Donald Trump’s top Homeland Security official Chad Wolf criticized accusations hurled against federal officers cracking down on protests in Portland are saying they are not the “Gestapo”. His comments come after the Trump adminstration came under fire due to the aggressive response of the police in Oregon city.
According to Daily News, Wolf, the acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, pushed back against the secret police characterizations during a briefing in Washington, DC, calling it “hyperbolic and dishonest.” As reported, Wolf said, “These officers are not military,” about the throngs of feds in tactical gear who have been seen arresting protesters en masse in Portland. “These police officers are not stormtroopers, they are not the Gestapo as some have described them.” The Gestapo were Nazi Germany’s secret police and were notorious for arbitrarily arresting political dissidents.
Trump's critics have drawn parallels of the administration’s Portland response with the Nazi tactic. The report stated videos have shown federal officers from DHS and other agencies grabbing protesters off the street and hauling them away in unmarked vans. Wolf told Fox News that they're "proactive arrest[ing] people" in Portland.
Internet was furious as usual. “Hey Chad, we don't allow "proactive arrests" in this country--especially by agencies and men with no jurisdiction. You, a man with no legal standing in his own position, are operating outside the law. Where the hell do you think you are?”. People compared it to the movie 'Minority Report' claiming, “In other words, they're arresting people who haven't actually done anything wrong. Welcome to 2020: Minority Report Edition.” Another tweeted, “With the announcement of Chad “Himmler” Wolf’s Minority Report policing strategy, can we do a proactive Nuremberg Trials? Let’s not wait until we’re all in camps, proactive convictions of crimes against humanity now.”
While one said, “It's full on Minority Report except with really stupid people with no skill or real technology deciding who is going to pre-crime.” Reminding people about voting another user said, “Americans are living 1984 morphing into now Minority Report on their way to A Handmaid's Tale. Good luck with that y'all, or get out and VOTE LIKE YOUR LIFE AS YOU NO IT DEPENDS ON IT!”
According to the Daily News report, Democrats are also outraged that the camouflage-donning federal squads in many cases have not worn identifying badges or uniforms. Questions have swirled about the constitutionality of the Trump administration’s protest crackdown, since federal forces generally can’t be deployed to states without the explicit invitation of local officials. But Wolf insisted that the government is within the bounds of the law because the squads are deployed to protect “federal property” like courthouses. “We will not retreat,” Wolf said. “We will continue to take the appropriate action to protect our facilities.”
A BBC report states, Trump praised the controversial federal law enforcement efforts in Portland. The city has seen protests against police brutality since George Floyd's death in Minnesota in May. "We're sending law enforcement," he told reporters. "We can't let this happen to the cities." Last month, Trump declared himself the "president of law and order" in the wake of widespread protests over the death of Floyd.
