PORTLAND AND OAKLAND SUE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION FOR UNLAWFUL DEPLOYMENT OF FEDERAL AGENTS AND UNCONSTITUTIONAL INTERFERENCE WITH LOCAL CONTROL
OAKLAND, CALIF. (October 15, 2020) – Late yesterday, the cities of Portland and Oakland, represented by co-counsel at Public Rights Project, filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration’s new policy and practice of unlawfully deploying federal law enforcement under the guise of protecting federal property. The purpose of this new policy and practice is to control, or overtake, progressive cities’ responses to protests. These federal actions lack legal authority and jeopardize cities’ efforts to promote racial justice and protect the health, safety, and welfare of their residents.
After the tragic killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police in May, people across our nation protested to advocate for police reform and racial justice. Through evaluations of their policies, examining funding, new race equity efforts, community engagement, and other efforts, Portland and Oakland have worked to stand with their residents in this call for police reform, because public safety and thriving communities are built on a foundation of trust with law enforcement. Portland and Oakland have sought to protect public safety and support the exercise of First Amendment rights by their residents.
We are bringing this new lawsuit to challenge policy and practices that directly contravene—and harm—cities’ efforts to engage in the critical work of racial justice and police reform, and purport to allow the federal government to engage in virtually boundless policing in the nation’s cities. The policy and practice were animated, at least in part, by the Executive Order that President Trump signed on June 26, an Order aimed at punishing state and local governments that had, in his view, “lost the ability to distinguish between the lawful exercise of rights to free speech and assembly and unvarnished vandalism,” or “failed to protect public monuments, memorials, and statues.”
Under the new policy, in early July, the Trump Administration deployed unmarked federal law enforcement agents to the streets of Portland as part of “Operation Diligent Valor” without the city's knowledge or consent. These federal forces included members of the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol’s paramilitary BORTAC Tactical Unit. The federal agents used tactics and munitions that significantly escalated violence and reduced public trust in public safety efforts. As the lawsuit explains, the federal agents’ actions exceeded their authority under the law. In addition, although the alleged purpose of the deployment was to protect federal property, under the new policy, federal agents patrolled and detained individuals far beyond the immediate vicinity of federal property.
“The call for police reform and racial justice is urgent,” said Jonathan Miller, Legal Director of Public Rights Project, counsel to the cities of Portland and Oakland. “The Trump Administration’s unlawful deployment of federal agents is a tactic used to foment violence and interfere with the very reform efforts with which the Administration disagrees.”
The Administration’s efforts to direct local police powers beyond their legal authority have continued. For instance, on September 30, 2020, the federal government refused to return officers of the local Portland Police Bureau to operating under local authority, insisting they must remain deputized as federal agents without the city’s consent and against its explicit requests. In its inflammatory press release, the federal government accused “City Hall” of failing to support law enforcement officers as a rationale for its refusal.
“In Portland, we have seen firsthand that the deployment of federal militarized agents undermines our efforts to have a much-needed dialogue about racial justice in this city,” said Portland’s Mayor Ted Wheeler. “Federal forces physically harmed peaceful protestors and made local police work more dangerous by reducing public trust during a time of unprecedented racial reckoning,” Wheeler said. “We need support from the federal government, not violence.”
“It is a sad day for this nation when Oakland and other progressive cities must protect our residents’ constitutional rights from unlawful and unconstitutional federal overreach,” said City Attorney Barbara J. Parker. “During the 1960s civil rights’ movement, the federal government sought to protect constitutional rights to peacefully protest segregated businesses and public facilities, and to attend desegregated public schools when local and state governments failed to do so. But the Trump Administration’s new policy does the opposite, which is why we had to go to court to challenge it.”
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against Attorney General William Barr, the U.S. Department of Justice, Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The lawsuit alleges violations of the Tenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, Administrative Procedure Act, Federal Vacancies Reform Act, and Homeland Security Act.
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Media Contacts:
Madison Jacobs, madison@publicrightsproject.org , 602-642-6471, for Public Rights Project
Jim Middaugh, jim.middaugh@portlandoregon.gov, 503-823-6541, for the City of Portland
Zoe Savitsky, ZSavitsky@oaklandcityattorney.org, 650-689-7224, for the City of Oakland
About Public Rights Project
Public Rights Project is a national organization that bridges the gap between the laws on the books, what’s happening on the ground and the lack of investment and commitment by the current Federal administration on civil rights. PRP leverages untapped opportunities in state and local law offices, including City Attorneys, District Attorneys, and Attorneys General and provides critical startup capital to help these offices increase capacity and enforcement. Public Rights Project is a project of the Tides Center, a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan nonprofit organization.
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