Trump threatens to send federal police to Oakland, mayor derides ‘racist dog whistle’
President Trump threatened Monday to send federal law enforcement into Oakland, but the latest in his long feud with Democratic-run cities and their leaders amounted to a “racist campaign tactic,” the city’s mayor said in a sharp response.
The president on Monday said he could send federal agents to several cities across the country, including Oakland — which he called “a mess” — though it wasn’t immediately clear what his reasoning for sending such a response was. Federal police have been seen in Portland, Ore., clashing violently with protestors and, in some cases, whisking suspects away in unmarked vans.
Oakland, a city long known for major protests both peaceful and chaotic, hasn’t seen sizable clashes between police and demonstrators in weeks. The president has asserted that politicians in traditionally blue regions are “afraid” of protestors, who Trump referred to as “anarchists” on Monday.
The remarks seemed to further irritate Bay Area politicians and activists tired of the president’s rhetoric.
“Oakland needs COVID relief — not troops — from our president,” Oakland mayor Libby Schaaf said in a pair of tweets. “He should stop slandering diverse, progressive cities like Oakland in his racist dog whistles and divisive campaign tactics.
“We are not experiencing any civil unrest right now. But I can think of nothing more likely to incite it than the presence of Trump-ordered military troops into Oakland.”
Following the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police on May 25, several Bay Area protests turned violent with police firing tear gas and flashbang grenades amid days of demonstrations and sporadic looting. Schaaf and other local mayors and police chiefs responded with curfews and authorized arrests to keep people home. Those curfews have long since been lifted.
Zach Norris, executive director of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, said that protests in Oakland have been powerful but have largely been non-violent. Additional police involvement, he said, could threaten that.
“Where I’ve seen violence escalate is where police haven’t really respected folks’ right to gather and assemble, and June 1, 2020, was one example of that,” Norris said, mentioning a day that saw some 15,000 people march peacefully before clashes with police at night. The Oakland police department later acknowledged the use of tear gas and flashbangs that night should be investigated.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, asked Monday during a news conference if he had heard anything from federal officials about troops being sent to Oakland, said, “The answer is no,” adding that “we would reject” any such intervention.
Federal agents have responded violently to protests and graffiti in Portland despite local and state leadership saying they are not welcome. Over the weekend, federal police fired projectiles and detained activists protesting in the wake of Floyd’s death.
Trump’s administration could seek to build on that as the president prepares a re-election bid, saddled by low approval ratings for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and the response to Floyd’s death and racism in America.
“We’re not going to let this happen in our country. All (of these cities are] run by liberal Democrats,” Trump said Monday. “More federal law enforcement, I can tell you that.”
Trump has repeatedly targeted Oakland and Schaaf with criticism in the past, saying that being in the city is like “living in hell” and ripping Bay Area leaders for sanctuary-city policies, threatening to send in immigration police for widespread raids.
Authorities have pointed to vandalism at federal facilities in the cities to defend the violent response. Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf said in a Monday interview that “I don’t need invitations by the state … mayors, or state governors to do our job. We’re going to do that, whether they like us there or not.”
On Sunday, House Democrats expressed concerns that the federal action against protestors in Portland could be a precursor to similar actions in other cities across the nation.
In a letter to the inspectors general of the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security, leading Democrats called for an investigation into the Trump administration’s use of violence against peaceful protestors.
“Rather than supporting and protecting the American people, we are witnessing the oppression of peaceful protestors by our own government,” House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith (D-Wash.) and Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) said in a statement. “This is simply unacceptable, and it must stop.”
https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/07/20/trump-threatens-to-send-federal-police-to-oakland-mayor-rejects-offer/