The government will eventually intervene in the situation in Portland, Oregon, where protesters have created an "autonomous zone" with tents and barricades, acting Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Mark Morgan said Thursday.
"The Department of Justice is going to be involved in this, DHS (the Department of Homeland Security) is going to be involved in this, and we’re really taking a stand across the board," Morgan said on Fox News' "Fox and Friends." "We’re going to do what needs to be done to protect the men and women of this country.”
Protesters in Portland have been taking steps to set up their autonomous zone in a city park after 46 days of demonstrations. They've titled their zone, the Chinook Land Autonomous Territory. It is located across from the Pioneer Courthouse, a federal property the DHS sought to protect by bringing federal officers into the city two weeks ago. Protesters have been blocking traffic and lit a fire Tuesday night at an intersection where a statue of an elk once stood.
Police have removed some of the barricades and later on Wednesday, police officers reportedly used tear gas on the crowd, reports The Oregonian.
Morgan on Thursday said the people setting up the zone aren't really protesters but are "criminals" who are "planning, organizing with premeditation to destroy federal property and harm federal officers and agents." He added that they are coming in with rocks, hammers, and nails pounded into pieces of plywood to use as weapons.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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