Customs and Border Protection tactical team on 'standby' as more riots in Seattle expected
Acting CBP commissioner Mark Morgan on how border agents are responding to the violence in Seattle.
Criticism of the deployment of federal agents -- who have a "responsibility" to protect American cities -- is unwarranted, Acting CBP Commissioner Mark Morgan stated Saturday.
In an interview on "Fox & Friends Weekend," Morgan said that strategic positioning in Seattle was "spot on" as leaders there put politics over public safety.
SEATTLE SEES FEDERAL OFFICERS ARRIVE AHEAD OF PLANNED WEEKEND PROTESTS
"[U.S. Department of Homeland Security Sec. Chad Wolf] would be abdicating his responsibility based on what we’re seeing and based on the past violence we’ve seen in Seattle not to preposition resources in case there is violence in Seattle that we’re seeing in Portland," he asserted. "It just makes sense and it’s common sense."
A federal officer fires crowd control munitions at Black Lives Matter protesters at the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse on Friday, July 24, 2020, in Portland, Ore. Since federal officers arrived in downtown Portland in early July, violent protests have largely been limited to a two block radius from the courthouse. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
"Again, Title 40, u.s.c. 1350. I encourage everybody to go read that. It tells the secretary, ‘you will, you must protect these federal facilities,'" Morgan said.
The commissioner pushed back on claims agents were roaming streets and unlawfully spiriting away protesters.
"Again, just flat out that's a lie. That's not what's happening," he said. "We are there defending that federal courthouse against violence."
"We have individuals – criminals, not protesters, -- every single night they are going there arming themselves with weapons. From knives to guns to bats to crowbars: they are trying to burn down that building," added Morgan. "That is the truth."
"And so, when you see a federal officer or agent out there in Portland, it's because they are going to arrest somebody with probable cause that's tried to burn the building down or assault them. And, I support them 100 percent," he told the "Fox & Friends Weekend" hosts.
Morgan also said any claims that protests would remain peaceful if not for the presence of these agents are "preposterous."
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"I mean, it's unbelievable. So, the mayor in Portland is saying federal agents and officers, ‘you go home, stop doing your statutory authority, and watch the criminals burn the seat of American justice to the ground.’ That's what we will see," he remarked.
"So, instead of telling the criminals to go home, he tells the federal agents doing their job protecting Americans to go home. It's outrageous, it’s ridiculous, and it’s dangerous," Morgan concluded.
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