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Dear Friend,
The Washington Post is reporting that the Trump administration is sending an additional 100 secret police agents to Portland.1
Trump's secret police have been caught snatching peaceful demonstrators off the street, pepper-spraying reporters, beating veterans, and tear-gassing a "wall of moms" gathered to protect protestors from violent federal agents.2,3,4
Congress MUST step in before one of Trump's paramilitary thugs kills someone or worse, and progressives are pushing for a vote to defund Trump's secret police this week.
The annual funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security is scheduled to be debated this week, and the Congressional Progressive Caucus is calling on Democratic leaders to pull the bill from the floor unless provisions are added forcing Trump's secret police to get out of Portland and stay out of any other cities.5 We've organized more than 60,000 letters calling on Congress to stop Trump's slide into authoritarianism. Now we must turn up the heat even more.
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Since Trump sent his Department of Homeland Security secret police to Portland, conflicts have only escalated. A U.S. Navy veteran was beaten and left with a broken hand. A protestor was hit in the head with a "less lethal" munition, causing serious injury. Now reports are that Trump is gearing up to send troops to cities, including Austin, Seattle, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Detroit.6,7
Make no mistake: Trump knew exactly what he was doing by sending heavily armed paramilitary soldiers to battle with American citizens and others exercising their First Amendment rights. He wasn't protecting federal property. He was looking to create chaos in the streets to save his floundering reelection. He's hoping to see police riots similar to the 1968 Democratic National Convention, when demonstrators were brutally beaten by police, boosting Richard Nixon's "law and order" message.
If Congress doesn't step in, who knows where this ends. Trump doesn't want peace. He wants a spectacle of violence, and by sending in armed troops to attack Americans, he's guaranteeing it.
For our democracy,
Robert Cruickshank,
Demand Progress
Sources:
1. The Washington Post, "More federal agents dispatched to Portland as protests rise in other cities," July 27, 2020
2. The Guardian, "Teargassed, beaten up, arrested: what freedom of the press looks like in the US right now," June 6, 2020
3. The Washington Post, "'What choice do we have?': Portland's 'Wall of Moms' faces off with federal officers at tense protests," July 22, 2020
4. The New York Times, "A Navy Veteran Had a Question for the Feds in Portland. They Beat Him in Response." July 22, 2020
5. The Hill, "Progressive Caucus leaders demand Democrats pull homeland security bill," July 22, 2020
6. Talking Points Memo, "WaPo: More Feds On The Way To Portland," July 27, 2020
7. The New York Times, "Trump Threatens to Send Federal Law Enforcement Forces to More Cities," July 24, 2020
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