With controversy growing over the Trump administration’s decision to send federal law enforcement agents to Portland to deal with the city’s unrest, a spokesman at the Pentagon said that no U.S. military troops have been deployed to the city.
However, Jonathan Hoffman says the Defense Secretary Mark Esper has concerns about federal agents wearing uniforms resembling military combat uniforms while they are carrying out law enforcement duties.
“The secretary has,has expressed a concern of this within the administration that we want a system where people can tell the difference,” he said.
Hoffman says the Pentagon’s concern dates back to protests that took place in the nation’s capital at the start of June.
Federal forces were deployed to Portland in early July, and tensions have grown since then: first, on July 11, when a protester was hospitalized with critical injuries after a U.S. Marshals Service officer struck him in the head with a round of what’s known as less-lethal ammunition.
Then, anger flared again over the weekend after video surfaced of a federal agent hitting a U.S. Navy veteran repeatedly with a baton while another agent sprays him in the face with pepper spray.
Crowds had recently numbered fewer than 100 people but swelled to more than 1,000 over the weekend – and they are once again attracting a broader base in a city that’s increasingly unified and outraged.
In a separate matter, Hoffman expressed confidence that the National Defense Authorization bill will soon be signed into law, despite the president being at odds with lawmakers on Capitol Hill over renaming military bases named after Confederate military leaders.
“We’re confident that there will be an agreement and that the NDA will be signed and implemented on time so that we can have a budget for our forces,” he said.
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