Three federal officers in Portland likely left permanently blind after laser attack by protesters: White House
PORTLAND, OREGON: Three federal officers will permanently go blind after being attacked by Portland protesters’ lasers, White House officials said. “A federal agent’s hand was impaled by planted nails, another federal agent was shot with a pellet gun, leaving a wound deep to the bone, and tragically, three federal officers were likely left permanently blinded by the rioters using lasers pointed directly into their eyes,” White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said on Friday, July 24.
According to reports, all the five officers were injured on Monday, July 20, when demonstrators protested at the Multnomah County Justice Center and a nearby federal courthouse in the city. At a press conference on Tuesday, July 21, Richard “Kriss” Cline, Federal Protective Service (FPS) deputy director of operations, said that more than 100 people surrounded the Hatfield Federal Courthouse and vandalized the building with spray paint, blocked adjacent intersections and set fires.
“When officers responded to put out these fires, glass bottles were thrown and lasers – which can cause permanent blindness – were shined in their eyes. We have three officers who currently have eye injuries and they may not recover sight in those eyes from those laser attacks,” Cline said. While on Friday, McEnany said: “The Trump administration will not stand by and allow anarchy in our streets.”
Following the Monday attack, the FPS has reportedly bought anti-laser glasses for officers to wear. It has also been reported that the laser attacks on federal officers continued late Thursday, July 23, also as nearly 2000 protestors came out on the streets of Oregon’s largest city. The agents shot tear gas and fired impact munitions at the demonstrators in response. The demonstrators in Portland are protesting against the brutal killing of African-American man George Floyd who died in police custody on May 25. The 46-year-old was allegedly killed by a Minneapolis officer who knelt on his neck for over eight minutes. The alleged brutality has led to protests all over the country with people coming out on the streets despite the Covid-19 pandemic.
The attack on federal agents comes after a woman demonstrator in Portland decided to go naked while protesting against police brutality and racism. The woman dubbed as ‘Naked Athena’ and whose identity was not known only chose to wear a mask and beanie while confronting anti-riot officers on Friday night, July 17.
The video of the incident was shared online that showed the naked woman walking towards the officers before laying down between the officers and other protesters in the road. She also a series of ballet and yoga poses in front of the cops who were in heavy protective gear including gas masks and helmets. Dave Killen, a photographer for The Oregonian/Oregon Live, said that the woman’s move left everyone shocked. While journalist Donovan Farley who took the video of the incident and later posted it on Twitter, said: “And then? Naked Athena appeared and the little boys didn’t know what to do.” The clip has gone viral on Twitter with over 600k views and more than 9k retweets and comments.