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Dear Friend,
Secret federal police officers in Portland, Oregon are snatching protestors off the streets, putting them into unmarked vans, and detaining them without charges. They're spraying massive amounts of tear gas at peaceful protestors and have been caught on video beating demonstrators with sticks.1
Today Trump announced plans to send more of these paramiltary thugs to cities across America to attack protestors and instigate violence.2,3
As the election gets closer and the polls get worse and worse for Trump, he is getting more and more desperate. Congress must act NOW to stop Trump's secret police using all the tools at their disposal, including new legislation as well as cutting their funding from the Department of Homeland Security budget (which they’re scheduled to vote on next week).
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Trump sent DHS paramilitary forces to Portland over the objection of local and state leaders. The police are heavily armed and militarized, and they don't have any badges or name tags or other emblems identifying where they are from. When they grab protestors, these police don't read them rights or explain why they are being detained before they pull unsuspecting people into unmarked vehicles.4
Oregon Governor Kate Brown told DHS that their presence were causing an escalation of violence—but that seems to be their purpose.5 Now Trump is threatening to send these instigating secret police to Baltimore, New York, Oakland, and other cities.6
Under the cover of the coronavirus pandemic, the Trump administration has been encroaching on our civil rights in horrifying ways.
- The Department of Health and Human Services has cut off the public from updates of hospitals’ coronavirus data.7
- Attorney General William Barr has asked for a suspension of habeas corpus and is pressuring Congress to hand him the ability to conduct warrantless internet history searches.8
- Secretary of Treasury Steve Mnuchin is hiding where coronavirus funds went and which corporations benefited.9
Demand Progress was founded on the principle of transparent government, and we have to stop this slide into authoritarianism before it's too late. We've already organized more than 40,000 letters calling on Congress to rein in the Trump administration by stopping the secret police and launching investigations into Trump's power abuses, and we need to do even more.
Will you rush an emergency donation today?
For our democracy,
Robert Cruickshank,
Demand Progress
Sources:
1. The Nation, "Trump Unleashes His Secret Police in Portland," July 17, 2020
2. The Washington Post, "The Oregon governor wants federal officers out of Portland. Trump officials won’t listen. Why?" July 17, 2020
3. The New York Times, "Trump Threatens to Send Federal Law Enforcement Forces to More Cities," July 20, 2020
4. The Nation, "Trump Unleashes His Secret Police in Portland," July 17, 2020
5. The Washington Post, "The Oregon governor wants federal officers out of Portland. Trump officials won’t listen. Why?" July 17, 2020
6. KQED, "After Portland, Trump Threatens to Send Federal Agents to Oakland and Other Cities 'Run by Liberal Democrats'," July 20, 2020
7. The New York Times, "Trump Administration Strips C.D.C. of Control of Coronavirus Data," July 14, 2020
8. Politico, "Republicans struggle to pin down Trump on spying powers," June 4, 2020
9. Esquire, "It's Going to Take Decades to Fumigate Democracy," June 12, 2020
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