Wednesday, September 2, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon 11 FBI shifts resources to ongoing unrest in Portland By Gillian Flaccus Associated Press PORTLAND (AP) 4 Port- land9s FBI chief said Wednes- day, August 26, he is shift- ing the agency9s resources to focus more heavily on the nightly racial injustice pro- tests in Oregon9s largest city that often end in vandalism, clashes with local police and dozens of arrests. Special Agent in Charge Renn Cannon said he is pull- ing agents from fraud and organized crime teams to focus on <acts of violence and federal crimes= committed during nearly three months of unrest. The FBI respects the rights of peaceful protesters to assemble and demonstrate, but near-nightly acts of vio- lence and vandalism associ- ated with the protests have created a dangerous and vola- tile situation, he said. <We do investigate major threats of violence and fed- eral crimes. And sometimes a major threat of violence is a cumulative threat that hap- pens over a period of time. It starts to have a really negative impact on the community,= he said in an interview with The Associated Press. <Here in Portland, we9re ... making the assessment that we should be trying to do a little more than we have, because the cumulative effects and the nature of the problem indicate that the community needs help,= Cannon said. He declined to provide specifics about the numbers of agents being shifted to protest cases or which cases, or how many cases, the agency was investigating. The FBI has previously released wanted posters related to two inci- dents on May 29. The announcement came as Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler prepared to make a statement the day after pro- testers smashed windows and vandalized City Hall inside and out. Police made 23 arrests as they dispersed the crowd, officials said. Demonstrators in the crowd of about 150 also threw bottles and eggs at police, put metal bars in the street to try to damage police vehicles and smashed a security cam- era on the City Hall building, police said in a statement. The statement said officers used <crowd control munitions= in response but did not say what kind. The day before, local police used tear gas to repel protesters who repeatedly set fire to a police union head- quarters building and arrested 25 individuals. And last weekend, protest- ers clashed violently in down- town streets for several hours with members of a right-wing group that showed up to con- front them. Video recorded during the Saturday melee shows one man pointing a gun into the crowd, but no shots were fired. Cannon declined to say if the FBI was looking into Sat- urday9s events, but he said his agency does help local, state, and federal law enforcement with <threat assessments= in situations such as those. Portland has been gripped by nightly protests for nearly three months since the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. D e m o n s t r a t o r s h a v e repeatedly targeted police buildings, police union build- ings, city and county offices and federal buildings with vandalism that includes set- ting fires, spraying graffiti and smashing windows and security cameras. Some protesters want to eliminate or drastically reduce the city9s police budget 4 saying the police protects property over Black lives 4 while the city9s mayor and others in the Black commu- nity have decried the violence, saying it is counterproductive. On Tuesday, President Trump renewed calls to have Gov. Kate Brown and Port- land Mayor Ted Wheeler call in the state9s National Guard. <They must stop calling these anarchists and agitators 8peaceful protestors.9 Come back into the real world! The Federal Government is ready to end this problem imme- diately upon your request,= Trump wrote on Twitter. Brown responded on Twit- ter to Trump9s demand, call- ing it <political theater.= In July, Trump sent agents to protect federal property in downtown Portland. Crowds grew into the thousands. Agents repeatedly clashed with people over a two-week period, deployed tear gas, and arrested those they said were hurling objects and trying to hurt agents and damage property. The American Civil Lib- erties Union on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against Trump and other federal officials related to the agents9 actions, alleging they used excessive force and illegal detentions to try to stamp out Black Lives Matter protests. The agents pulled back from a visible presence down- town on July 31. Summ er Cleaning! OPEN FOR BREAKFAST 9 a.m. HAPPY HOUR 3 to 6 p.m. Monday-Friday Open 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. 175 N. 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