Federal Agents Shoot 2 in Portland, Ore., Police Say
"The shootings in Portland, a city previously targeted by the Trump administration, come as Minneapolis grapples with a federal agent’s fatal shooting of a woman a day earlier.
Federal agents shot two people in Portland, Ore., Thursday afternoon, officials said, prompting city and state leaders to demand an end to an immigration crackdown in the city while also urging residents of a community known for political dissent to remain calm.
Details were scant, but city officials announced that the police responded to a report of gunshots in southeast Portland at 2:18 p.m. Pacific Time. Officers were told a man had been shot and was requesting help; the police found a man and a woman with gunshot wounds, according to a police press release.
It was not clear what condition the two victims were in. Mayor Keith Wilson said they were “shot and injured by federal agents.”
Elana Pirtle-Guiney, Portland’s City Council president, said during a council meeting Thursday afternoon that she believed the two people who had been shot were still alive.
City leaders urged calm as the investigation begins, particularly in the wake of the fatal shooting of a woman by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis a day before.
“Please keep protests peaceful,” Senator Jeff Merkley, an Oregon Democrat, said in a statement. “Trump wants to generate riots. Don’t take the bait.”
Bob Day, Portland’s police chief, asked residents to let investigators do their jobs. “We understand the heightened emotion and tension many are feeling,” he said. “But I am asking the community to remain calm as we work to learn more.”
Mayor Wilson, who earlier in the day announced that the city stands with people in Minneapolis, said the shootings in his city was another sign that federal immigration efforts were out of control. He called on immigration authorities to end their operations in Portland.
“We cannot sit by while constitutional protections erode and bloodshed mounts,” Mr. Wilson said. “Portland is not a ‘training ground’ for militarized agents, and the ‘full force’ threatened by the administration has deadly consequences.”
Portland was the site of months of clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement, including federal agents, after the murder of George Floyd in 2020. Last summer, the federal immigration crackdown spurred protests at the city’s ICE facility that occasionally turned violent and led President Trump to attempt to use the National Guard to quell demonstrations. A federal judge blocked that effort.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Anna Griffin the Pacific Northwest bureau chief for The Times, leading coverage of Washington, Idaho, Alaska, Montana and Oregon."
No comments:
Post a Comment