For the past several days, unidentified, ambiguously accountable, and largely anonymous federal agents have been terrorizing the activist community in Portland, Oregon, snatching protesters off the streets and throwing them into unmarked civilian vans as the social justice movement launched in the wake of George Floyd’s killing by a Minneapolis police officer continues to embroil the city.
“I see guys in camo,” protester Conner O’Shea told Oregon Public Broadcasting, describing the scene as his friend Mark Pettibone was detained by the assortment of federal officers. “Four or five of them pop out, open the door, and it was just like, ‘Oh shit. I don’t know who you are or what you want with us.'”
“I am basically tossed into the van,” Pettibone added. “And I had my beanie pulled over my face so I couldn’t see and they held my hands over my head.” Continue reading.