PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The City of Portland’s attorney sent a letter to the U.S. Dept. of Justice on Monday, days after the DOJ launched an investigation after Portland police arrested conservative influencer Nick Sortor on a misdemeanor charge, which has since been dropped, saying federal agents at the city’s U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility are using “unconstitutional uses of force” against protesters.
Portland City Attorney Robert Taylor wrote to the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jonas Geissler, arguing the federal government is “failing its solemn duty” to protect the rights of all, including those who disagree with the Trump administration.
“Does the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice care about the Constitution anymore?” Taylor wrote. “Many in Portland and across America have reason to be concerned about the answer to that question.”
READ FULL LETTER HERE
Furthermore, Taylor charges in the letter to the DOJ about how it appears federal agents are favoring those who agree with the current Trump administration.
“For example, it appears the federal government is providing special access to the ICE facility for social media ‘influencers’ who favor the federal administration, while targeting with force those who use social media to document the conduct of the federal government,” Taylor wrote.
Taylor also says the investigation launched into the Portland Police Bureau after the arrest of Sortor last Thursday “appears to be an effort by the Civil Rights Division to politically weaponize the Amended Settlement Agreement in United States v. City of Portland, 3:12-cv-02265-SI,” adding that it appears Geissler’s division “is abusing the Amended Settlement Agreement in bad faith and with unclean hands, which must stop.”
Prosecutors announced on Monday that the second-degree disorderly conduct charge against Sortor would be dropped, hours before he was slated to be arraigned.
More to come. Stay with KOIN 6 News as this story develops.
Kaitlin Flanigan
Source link