Judge: Feds in Portland Don't Have to Identify Themselves

A federal judge in Oregon has ruled that federal agents sent to Portland to protect government buildings and monuments do not have to identify themselves when making an arrest. The Oregon attorney general had sued the government, demanding that limits be placed on the arrest and detention of suspects.

But U.S. District Judge Michael Mosman found that state Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum “lacked standing” to bring the lawsuit in the first place and had failed to articulate any state interest beyond protecting the constitutional rights of individuals.

The suit was one of several pending legal actions against the Trump administration that allege violations of rioters’ constitutional rights. In another related legal action, a judge ruled in favor of journalists and legal observers who claim police were barring them from doing their jobs.

BuzzFeed:

Mosman’s ruling came one day after another federal judge in Portland, US District Judge Michael Simon, granted an order restricting the activities of federal officers. Simon entered a temporary restraining order on Thursday that bars federal officers from arresting or using force specifically against journalists and legal observers at demonstrations unless there is probable cause that they committed a crime. Simon also ruled that clearly marked journalists and legal observers did not have to follow dispersal orders, writing that journalists are present to report on whether authorities are acting within the law.

“Without journalists and legal observers, there is only the government’s side of the story to explain why a ‘riot’ was declared and the public streets were ‘closed’ and whether law enforcement acted properly in effectuating that order,” Simon wrote.

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