DOJ spokesperson calls Portland mayor 'a disgrace' for rejecting federal help amid protests

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DOJ spokesperson points to lack of leadership in crime-stricken cities

DOJ director of communications and public affairs Kerri Kupec addresses crime across the U.S.

Department of Justice spokeswoman Kerri Kupec slammed Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler as a "disgrace" Wednesday after he rejected federal assistance in dealing with massive protests in his city.

Kerri Kupec told "Bill Hemmer Reports" that she was "particularly dismayed ... considering that just over the weekend, a protester went after one of our U.S. Marshals with a hammer, hitting him over and over again. Protesters were surging federal buildings, armed with sledgehammers, with slingshots, with lasers.

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"I don't care if you're Republican or Democrat, but if you're an elected official and you're prioritizing your own personal politics and violent anarchists and agitators over the safety and security of the very people who elected you, that's not leadership," Kupec added. "That's a disgrace."

On Tuesday, Wheeler lashed out at the Department of Homeland Security on Twitter, urging federal agents to “stay inside their building” or “leave” as the city faced its sixth straight week of protests and unrest.

When host Bill Hemmer asked whether "Operation Legend" -- Attorney General William Barr's initiative to send federal resources to areas experiencing crime surges -- will take effect in Portland, Kupec said resources have already been sent to Kansas City, and additional cities should be announced in the coming weeks.

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"What it means," she told Hemmer, is [that] we are surging the city as we speak, whether ... FBI, DEA ... to come along [with] local law enforcement there and help them deal with this terrible violent crime issue that they are currently experiencing."