吃瓜大本营

For weeks, federal agents with the Department of Homeland Security laid siege to the city of Portland to suppress the voices of those demanding justice for Black lives. The militarized agents used sharpshooters to maim people, swept protesters away in unmarked cars, and brutally attacked journalists, legal observers, and with sonic weapons and tear gas. They didn鈥檛 spare moms, dads, veterans, nurses, or even the .
 
The agency鈥檚 lawlessness was so profound that a federal court in Portland issued a restraining order against the agency after the ACLU suit. Congress held numerous hearings. The agency鈥檚 inspector general an investigation. Even of the Department of Homeland Security its abuses. Richard Clarke, who served on the National Security Council for Presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush, called for . 
 
The administration鈥檚 effort to use its response to the protests in Portland as some twisted campaign prop miserably backfired, and the agents were forced to retreat. Now, recognizing that he鈥檚 in hot water, Chad Wolf, who was appointed as head of DHS, is on a media tour in an attempt to rewrite history.

But the truth was caught on video for the world to see. No press interview, no op-ed, and no statement by any administration official can undo the fact that DHS agents for simply asking them questions. They can鈥檛 hide the of unmarked federal agents 鈥� later identified to be with DHS 鈥� hauling a protester off the streets of Portland into an unmarked vehicle. They can鈥檛 make us forget the sight of DHS agents at individuals simply exercising their right to protest, or providing aid to an unconscious bystander. They also can鈥檛 erase the decades of abuse, civil rights violations, killings, and discriminatory surveillance of , Brown, and immigrant communities.
 
Wolf did get one fact right: 鈥�.鈥� The federal court in Portland did uphold the people鈥檚 rights when DHS brought its police state tactics there. It ordered the agency to stop arresting and attacking journalists and legal observers. But DHS didn鈥檛 comply with the court order 鈥� even after the court issued its restraining order, the agency journalists and legal observers.
 
An agency claiming to defend the courthouse should, at a minimum, obey the orders coming out of it.
 
As we have for a century 鈥� much longer than DHS has been around 鈥� the ACLU will continue to unapologetically defend the Constitution from all those who undermine it. This includes the Department of Homeland Security. DHS is too powerful, too abusive, and too much of a threat to America鈥檚 democratic values. As and former Bush administration official put it, it's time to go back to the drawing board.