U.S. Senators and Representatives request investigations into federal operatives in Portland

Oregon's U.S. Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, with U.S. Reps. Earl Blumenauer and Suzanne Bonamici, formally requested July 22 that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) offices of Inspector General (OIG) to investigate the unrequested presence and violent actions of recently deployed federal forces in Portland.

The request for investigations follows federal operatives shooting a peaceful protester in the head, causing serious injury and hospitalization; reports and video recordings of unmarked federal agents grabbing protesters from the streets and taking them to unmarked minivans, apparently without probable cause; agents pepper spraying and breaking the hand of a Navy veteran; and nightly use of teargas and munitions against peaceful protesters.