Federal thugs may be coming to a protest near you

Pandemic

The hope—this study has not yet been peer reviewed—is that it will be possible to identify the most severe cases of COVID-19 early enough to take action even while patients are still at home. Even failing that, this is a more comprehensive list of symptoms associated with the disease[1] than I’ve seen before.

Henry Bodkin, “Scientists identify six different types of coronavirus with increasing severity levels,” Telegraph, July 17, 2020, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/07/17/scientists-identify-six-different-types-coronavirus-increasing/


Homeland insecurity

I tend to shy away from interview transcripts and this is a good example of why, but Ken Cuccinelli attributes[2] the detentions of protesters by federal thugs displaying no identification and using unmarked vehicles[3] to the Federal Protective Service, with support from Customs and Border Patrol thugs and Immigration and Customs Enforcement thugs. Cuccinelli claims they are protecting federal personnel and federal property even though many of these detentions are occurring well away from federal property. The even scarier part is this: Cuccinelli says “this is a posture we intend to continue not just in Portland but in any of the facilities that we’re responsible for around the country,” which implies that these detentions might occur wherever protests are being held around the country.[4]

Anny is right to worry, right to be afraid. But intimidation is the point here: Protesters need to find a way to carry on despite that intimidation. Because otherwise the thugs win.

Sarah McCammon, “DHS Official On Reports Of Federal Officers Detaining Protesters In Portland, Ore.,” National Public Radio, July 17, 2020, https://www.npr.org/2020/07/17/892393079/dhs-official-on-reports-of-federal-officers-detaining-protesters-in-portland-ore


  1. [1]Henry Bodkin, “Scientists identify six different types of coronavirus with increasing severity levels,” Telegraph, July 17, 2020, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/07/17/scientists-identify-six-different-types-coronavirus-increasing/
  2. [2]Sarah McCammon, “DHS Official On Reports Of Federal Officers Detaining Protesters In Portland, Ore.,” National Public Radio, July 17, 2020, https://www.npr.org/2020/07/17/892393079/dhs-official-on-reports-of-federal-officers-detaining-protesters-in-portland-ore
  3. [3]Jeet Heer, “Trump Unleashes His Secret Police in Portland,” Nation, July 17, 2020, https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/trump-secret-police-portland/; Katie Shepherd, “‘It was like being preyed upon’: Portland protesters say federal officers in unmarked vans are detaining them,” Washington Post, July 17, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/07/17/portland-protests-federal-arrests/
  4. [4]Sarah McCammon, “DHS Official On Reports Of Federal Officers Detaining Protesters In Portland, Ore.,” National Public Radio, July 17, 2020, https://www.npr.org/2020/07/17/892393079/dhs-official-on-reports-of-federal-officers-detaining-protesters-in-portland-ore

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