Trump Administration Plots Crackdown by Feds in Cities Nationwide

Daryl Johnson, a former DHS analyst of right-wing extremism, said the deployment risked appearing as if DHS was arrayed against Americans exercising their constitutional freedoms. "When we're trying to instill trust in public relations, this isn't doing anything to foster that trust," he said.

Wyden and his fellow Oregonian in the Senate, Democrat Jeff Merkley, on Monday introduced an amendment to the annual defense authorization to disallow the federal law-enforcement deployment. Their amendment, supported by Oregon Rep. Earl Blumenauer and Suzanne Bonamici, restricts federal efforts at crowd control to the "immediate vicinity" of federal property unless requested by local authorities and bans the use of unmarked vehicles or obscured insignia.

In Chicago, where police reactions to Black Lives Matter protests have been violent, a Fraternal Order of Police president requested Trump's assistance. That move drew strong rebuke from local elected officials. Mayor Lori Lightfoot, often the subject of ire from the protesters, has said she doesn't want outside federal law enforcement assistance.