Portland invasion by Trump's DHS goons was an incompetent shambles, internal review finds

[applegrove]

Portland invasion by Trump’s DHS goons was an incompetent shambles, internal review finds

Oct 07, 2021 3:34pm Eastern Daylight Time 

by David Neiwert, Daily Kos Staff

https://m.dailykos.com/stories/2021/10/7/2056752/-Portland-invasion-by-Trump-s-DHS-goons-was-an-incompetent-shambles-internal-review-finds

"SNIP.......

We knew at the time that Donald Trump sent an army of contracted goons from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in to the city of Portland, Oregon, in the summer of 2020 to arrest citizens protesting against police brutality—summarily sweeping people off the street on the pretext of a kind of preventative arrest based on groundless speculation that they were “antifa” conspiring to “burn down our cities,” as Trump put it—that it was an outrage against the Constitution and the rule of law.

What we didn’t know (and an internal DHS review that only surfaced this week reveals) was that it was also an extraordinary exercise in authoritarian incompetence. It demonstrates that senior DHS leadership pushed unfounded conspiracy theories about antifascists, encouraged the contractors they hired to violate protesters’ constitutional rights, and made spurious connections, based on no real evidence, between protesters who engaged in criminal activity. It also revealed poor training and inadequate guidance, which contributed to the federal intelligence officers’ lack of knowledge on legal restrictions for the collection of such information, and turned the entire operation into a massive mess.

“The report was a stunning analysis of the incompetence and mismanagement and abuse of power during the summer of 2020,” Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, who released a redacted version of the document Friday, told Oregon Public Broadcasting.

Originally released on Jan. 6—and its contents subsequently overlooked due to that day’s events—the internal review focused on DHS’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I/A). It found that senior DHS leaders attempted to politicize intelligence in order to support Trump’s claims that a massive “antifa” conspiracy was behind the many anti-police protests around the nation, but particularly so in Portland. The same leaders pressured subordinates to illegally search phones, and when legal staff objected, sought to cut them out of the discussion.

.......SNIP"

[gratuitous]

1. An incompetent shambles, but it set the narrative

You hear it quite steadily in Portland after every shooting or car accident or fire or dog chasing a cat or any other daily occurrence that happens in cities across the country.

[applegrove]

2. I think that the fact the false narrative being set was to build up an

antifa conspiracy theory is not little or common. Are you saying antifa gets blamed every time a dog chases a cat?

Later I guess so. Others have joined in. So sorry for Portland.

[aggiesal]

4. That would be AntiCa! n/a

[applegrove]

5. Ha!

[Ford_Prefect]

7. Damn near to every time depending on who is saying it and where. You'd be amazed how often I heard

Antifa blamed for any spurious activity or for planning a national riot while I was in the grocery store or buying hardware.

It was a propaganda move intended to blame people with a point of view with belonging to a subversive, violent and dangerous organization with a national agenda. The intention was to conflate BLM and other civil rights groups with groups like Hamas and ISIS, and it appears to have worked.

So, yes nearly every time something happens, or is said to have happened there are many people who now believe and would say out loud that Antifa did it or inspired it. The MSM bought into the propaganda too and repeat every claim as if such a specific terrorist group exists. They did it the other day "right here in River City".

[applegrove]

8. Tragic. They right needs a scapegoat obviously. Cults do not work without them.

[CentralMass]

3. There is a an anarchist element in Portland that has routinely hijacked protests

and committed substantial property damage in Portland. They rioted and trashed the city after the Orange Anus won. They rioted for 130 nights in the aftermath of George Floyd's murder. They even rioted when Biden won.
Frankly, Portland is f'ckd up.
So that doesn't discount the claims about tRump's abuse of power but the environment here opened the door for it.

[applegrove]

6. Sorry to hear that.

[Grasswire2]

11. You live in Central Mass?

I am here to tell ya that reports of Portland being "trashed" are false.

If DU made it easier to post photos, I would show mine from a week ago, a Wednesday evening, when I and two other people deliberately walked and drove downtown Portland to look for evidence of "trashing" and found NONE.

People dining on the terrace outdoors next to the Historical Society.
A very large gala reception outdoors in front of the Art Museum.
Shoppers on the streets.
Restaurants full.
People walking dogs.
Jewelry displayed in bright glassy windows -- openly
The UNPROTECTED side-walk level glass windows of the corner stone church intact, not damaged, and the choir practicing inside. I put my hand up and touched the glass and the lead. Safe. Unharmed.

And so on.

The ONLY sign of previous distress was the fenced-off park across the street across from the Federal Justice Center. No plywood. No rubble. Nothing.

Tell me about your personal observations. In detail.

[CentralMass]

12. I live about 10 or15 minutes from Portland. Heading on my 7th year.

year. If ou think that the violent protest and destruction that goes on here is normal you need to get out more.

[Grasswire2]

13. okay, maybe Gresham? Where the Proud Boys and others took over an abandoned K-Mart parking lot?

How is that "trashing Portland"?

Or maybe you're in Hillsboro?

Lake O?

If you don't have pics, it didn't happen.

Ppl like you continually write in to WW and FB complaining about the destruction of Portland. When the profile is checked, we see they live across the river, or in a different county.

[CentralMass]

14. Beaverton. If you want to own the the violent destructive protest where

this usually self proclaimed anarchist types trash portion of downtown Portland, smashing the windows of business, starting fires, making attempts to start fires in occupied government and or police buildings, in some cases try to block exit from the buildings after starting the fire go a.head. Google and look up video of these events. Look at the arrest records and photos that were at times report on the local stations. That van tip over you mentioned is about the one incident you can point to where the right was behind it. If I recall that incident wasn't even caught live. The crap that goes down it Portland only harms political causes by branding them with it.

[Grasswire2]

15. LOL Beaverton.

What I said.

The people complaining are from the burbs.

[CentralMass]

17. Well of course only your opinion matters. Have fun with the rioting.

https://www.opb.org/article/2020/09/11/poll-oregon-voters-portland-protests-attitude-shift/

https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2020/09/oregon-voters-disapprove-of-portland-protests-feel-police-arent-using-enough-force-poll-finds.html

https://www.dhmresearch.com/oregon-voters-disapprove-of-the-ongoing-protests/

[Grasswire2]

18. your second link doesn't work

It evidently leads to a poll taken of OREGON voters.

[CentralMass]

16. Deleted. I replied to myself.

Last edited Fri Oct 8, 2021, 05:31 PM - Edit history (1)

[bucolic_frolic]

9. Repurposed deputies without moral authority

Antifa my derriere. What an ill-conceived mess.

[Alexander Of Assyria]

10. Perhaps all these recent revelations, detailed evidentiary reports, presages indictments?