# Feds 'black-bagging people' in Portland **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 18, 2020, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feds-black-bagging-people-in-portland/915638 "2020-07-18T03:19:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2020, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feds-black-bagging-people-in-portland/915638/162 "2020-07-19T00:38:43Z")
Sigh. I didnt say it really was a big deal, but since it is technically arson, it gave trump the excuse he needed to send in the brownshirts. It may be a total BS reason, but there ya go. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2020, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feds-black-bagging-people-in-portland/915638/163 "2020-07-19T01:49:22Z")
And again, the whole reason for all these BLM protests across the nation is the clear double standard in which cops are allowed to do any illegal and immoral thing they like, including murder, whereas regular citizens have ZERO rights of any kind as soon as some cop decides he doesn’t like whatever it is they’re doing. Keep on ratcheting this shit up and there will be a reckoning. And [City Council member Jo Ann Hardesty calls out Mayor Ted Wheeler](https://i.redd.it/eimh8vds1ob51.jpg), tells him to give her the PPB (and yes, this is a thing, the mayor is not automatically in charge of the cop shop and City Council members do divvy up responsibility for various departments) since he obviously can’t hack it. I would love to see her smack the shit out of Chief Lovell–also a shitty cop who could use a sound beating. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2020, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feds-black-bagging-people-in-portland/915638/164 "2020-07-19T03:49:12Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > In DC, those were special Bureau of Prisons riot police. Due to the extreme risk to their families and loved ones, they dont wear name tags. They still have to ID themselves as Federal Officers, however, etc. Why are their loved ones at extreme risk? If they are that hated, perhaps there’s a problem right there. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2020, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feds-black-bagging-people-in-portland/915638/166 "2020-07-19T03:59:21Z")
In Washington DC, which is not Portland, the BoP riot cops work in the most dangerous Maximum Security prisons in America, full of hardened dangerous felons, most of whom have gang members outside that at a request would cheerfully kill their entire family. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2020, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feds-black-bagging-people-in-portland/915638/167 "2020-07-19T04:02:22Z")
Couldn’t possibly be all that dangerous if they can be spared to harass harmless protestors 3,000 miles away. whose at home watching the hardened, dangerous felons, a bunch of new hires? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2020, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feds-black-bagging-people-in-portland/915638/168 "2020-07-19T04:06:25Z")
They arent guards, they are BoP riot police. Again, they were in Washington DC, not Portland. Understand? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2020, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feds-black-bagging-people-in-portland/915638/169 "2020-07-19T04:07:46Z")
What does that have to do with Portland, then? ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2020, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feds-black-bagging-people-in-portland/915638/170 "2020-07-19T04:10:25Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > In Washington DC, which is not Portland, the BoP riot cops work in the most dangerous Maximum Security prisons in America, full of hardened dangerous felons, most of whom have gang members outside that at a request would cheerfully kill their entire family How is that germane? Oregon only has state run prisons and we don’t have a lot of heinous, dangerous criminals here so why do we need these killer klowns kidnapping our citizens? And why should conditions across the continent drive their behavior here? Non sequitur alert! ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2020, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feds-black-bagging-people-in-portland/915638/171 "2020-07-19T04:21:23Z")
Man this thread has gone all over the place but…its ok I guess. If anyone cares, it sure seems to me there are a lot better places you could send in a mob of Feds. Seattle a little while ago. Atlanta… In Portland, yeah…theres been 40 days of protesting, a little rioting, a lot of grafitti, fireworks… Yes use the Feds to protect Federal buildings if the local cops won’t, but if Portland lacks the political will to arrest people throwing bottles at cops, shooting fireworks at cops…etc…then fuck them. Let them sort it out themselves. If Portland or Seattle or Chicago or Atlanta won’t vote out their cowardly jackboot (when it directly affects THEM and their policies\*) leaders…then fuck em. You get what you pay for. \*See Chicago. “Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter Black…oh Hell NOOOOO you’re not going after my statue of the guy who CUT OFF PEOPLES HANDS AND ENSLAVED NATIVES…boys go crack some skulls” ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2020, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feds-black-bagging-people-in-portland/915638/172 "2020-07-19T04:31:17Z")
Manson 1972 and puzzlegal asked, so i answered. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2020, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feds-black-bagging-people-in-portland/915638/173 "2020-07-19T04:35:57Z")
But you gave a reason why people who work in prisons don’t display their names. That’s hardly a reason for people arresting civilians in the streets to be anonymous. ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2020, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feds-black-bagging-people-in-portland/915638/174 "2020-07-19T04:41:03Z")
I’m watching a livestream now: So many white people. So little social distancing. So what about the businesses adjacent to the streets they’ve commandeered? Do they change streets every night or do the businesses just have to shut down? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2020, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feds-black-bagging-people-in-portland/915638/175 "2020-07-19T04:44:53Z")
Sigh, can we get back to portland? Look, in DC there was also a furor over Fed agents with no nametags, etc. Those were BoP riot police, who, _quite justifiably_ have permission to not wear name tags. They werent arresting anyone. They agents in Portland are not BoP riot police, they are DHS and Border patrol. Most were not wearing name tags. I am not sure if they have actually arrested anyone, just detained and released. But does anyone have info that they have arrested and charged anyone? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2020, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feds-black-bagging-people-in-portland/915638/176 "2020-07-19T04:48:21Z")
Every single protester is a closet Marxist-Anarchist, don’t you know that? /s ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2020, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feds-black-bagging-people-in-portland/915638/177 "2020-07-19T04:53:34Z")
I think i heard that at least 13 people have been charged. i looked into things and 2 people have been charged by the Feds but that was several days ago and is probably unrelated to the recent wave. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2020, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feds-black-bagging-people-in-portland/915638/178 "2020-07-19T05:37:46Z")
> **[Feds, right-wing media paint Portland as ‘city under siege.’ A tour of town...](https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2020/07/feds-right-wing-media-paint-portland-as-city-under-siege-a-tour-of-town-shows-otherwise.html)** > > In a city of 650,000 spread out over 145 square miles, national figures focus on police crackdowns on protesters on a scant few blocks night after night. ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2020, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feds-black-bagging-people-in-portland/915638/179 "2020-07-19T05:54:05Z")
Training in handling mass demonstrations and riots is essential for any brand of law enforcement in Portland. The feds don’t have it: > [The Federal Officers Deployed in Portland Didn’t Have Proper Training, D.H.S. Memo Said](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/18/us/portland-protests.html) Because it’s probably paywalled, here are excerpts: _Rather than tamping down persistent protests in Portland, Ore., a militarized presence from federal officers seems to have re-energized them._ > The federal agents facing a growing backlash for their militarized approach to weeks of unrest in Portland were not specifically trained in riot control or mass demonstrations, an internal Department of Homeland Security memo warned this week. > > The message, dated Thursday, was prepared by the agency for Chad F. Wolf, the acting secretary of Homeland Security, as he arrived in Portland to view the scene in person, according to a copy of the memo obtained by The New York Times. It listed federal buildings in the city and issues officers faced in protecting them. > > The memo, seemingly anticipating future encounters with protesters in other cities as the department follows President Trump’s guidance to crack down on unrest, warns: “Moving forward, if this type of response is going to be the norm, specialized training and standardized equipment should be deployed to responding agencies.” > > The tactical agents deployed by Homeland Security include officials from a group known as BORTAC, the Border Patrol’s equivalent of a S.W.A.T. team, a highly trained group that normally is tasked with investigating drug smuggling organizations, as opposed to protesters in cities. Please note that last paragraph. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2020, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feds-black-bagging-people-in-portland/915638/180 "2020-07-19T06:10:32Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > They agents in Portland are not BoP riot police, they are DHS and Border patrol. Most were not wearing name tags Do you understand they are not even wearing tags identifying what department they are with and, when asked by those being whisked away and bystanders, refuse to respond to any and all queries about what they are doing, what department they are with and where they are taking people. ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2020, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feds-black-bagging-people-in-portland/915638/181 "2020-07-19T06:14:09Z")
That totally makes sense. i remember when all those agencies came together after the Boston Marathon bombing. I jokingly said, "Dude is probably hiding in that trash dumpster right there and no one has checked cause they think someone else has checked. Well he wasn’t but he was under a boat tarp like 100 feet into the area that should have been checked. Point being…yeah bring a bunch of agencies together and no one knows who is in charge. Help me out here, I’m looking for a historical term for when well-off people go down to mingle with the common rabble and see what all the protesting is about. Not slumming…similar in tone to Oingo Boingo’s song “Capitalism”… _You’re just a middle class, socialist brat From a suburban family and you never really had to work And you tell me that you’ve got to get back To the struggling masses (whoever they are)_ Maybe it is protest slumming, I dunno. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2020, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feds-black-bagging-people-in-portland/915638/182 "2020-07-19T06:23:51Z")
I’m curious… If some people with no identification as law enforcement jump out of a van and try to drag me in to it am I within my rights to shoot them? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feds-black-bagging-people-in-portland/915638.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feds-black-bagging-people-in-portland/915638.md?page=10)