Federal cops in cities: signs of a creeping dictatorship

 
Since July 1, the Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department have been dispatching federal police, including the Border Patrol, U.S. Marshalls, FBI, the Coast Guard and other agencies, to cities around the country, supposedly to help “fight crime” or rein in “anarchists.”
In Portland, Ore., federal agents began targeting Black Lives Matter supporters July 1. Lilith Sinclair, a Portland organizer, told Democracy, Now!: “It’s hard to encompass the depth of what we’ve experienced. This movement started with a single Black mom . . . to demand change. And has swelled into a movement, thousands and thousands strong that has proven to unite so many of our people here. . . . We’ve been facing severe police brutality . . . from our local police force for . . . decades. . . . [but this] is a solid escalation, flashbangs . . . CS gas and other munitions, tear gas. . . pepper spray bullets . . . unmarked cars . . . men in uniforms, no badges, no IDs . . . what’s happening in Portland is happening all across the country. The people . . . truly see the failures of this capitalist, white supremacist system . . . and so the movement is only swelling.”
Federal cops have also been sent to Kansas City, Mo.; Washington, D.C.; Gettysburg, Pa.; and Seattle, and more are headed to Chicago and Albuquerque as of July 24. Portland’s own police force is coordinating closely with federal police in attacking protests, and Chicago police reportedly asked for the feds to come in.
“We need . . . [to be] fighting for the abolition of the police department, the militarized police . . . the demilitarization and defunding of the entire U.S. military budget . . . abolition of the prison system . . .” said Sinclair.
These federal provocations are partly related to Trump’s desperate effort to get re-elected. But they are also part of a much bigger crackdown on protest at a time when millions are marching against a system that produces racism, poverty, injustice and violence. The people’s answer is: We will not tolerate continued tyranny in our country, under any government. We will keep marching, protesting, and fighting for freedom until we are all free.