Federal law enforcement officials will remain in Portland to help quell the violent protests that have plagued the city for 52 consecutive days, according to the acting secretary for the Department of Homeland Security.
"We will not retreat," Chad Wolf said during a press conference Tuesday afternoon. "We will continue to take appropriate action."
Since Sunday, late-night protests have escalated to assaults on federal agents and police officers guarding the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse and other government buildings.
Wolf said DHS has deployed up to hundreds of law enforcement officials to Portland due to the reluctance of Democratic Mayor Ted Wheeler to stop the city's violence.
Wheeler recently accused DHS federal law enforcement officers were stoking violence in Portland. He – along with mayors from Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Chicago, Kansas City, and Seattle – wrote a letter asking Wolf and U.S. Attorney General William Barr to remove DHS officers from their cities.
The DHS head pushed back against the claim, saying, "We are not escalating."
Wolf said he called Wheeler and Oregon Democrat Gov. Kate Brown to ask how DHS could help tamp down the violence in the city.
"Their response was, 'No thanks, and please leave the city, and take all your law enforcement with you,'" Wolf said.
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