Fox News judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano slammed President Donald Trump for sending federal troops to Portland in response to increasing protests in Oregon’s largest city, with the former judge calling the move “unlawful,” “unconstitutional” and “just plain wrong.”
Napolitano’s remarks come as Portland officials have requested the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) withdraw after videos of protesters being taken off the street by unidentified federal officers in unmarked cars prompted outrage.
“You have anarchy on one hand,” Napolitano said. “If the troops come in the streets, you have a potential for even more violence on the other hand.”
“What happened in Portland over the weekend, it was not only unlawful and unconstitutional, it’s just plain wrong,” the former New Jersey Superior Court judge continued. “Sending armed, untrained police into the streets wearing fatigues without the knowledge or consent of the local police actually caused more violence.”
Napolitano also talked about a complaint by Oregon’s attorney general against DHS that included allegations of kidnapping and blindfolding.
“You have a lot of peaceful demonstrators,” Napolitano argued. “The complaint filed by the attorney general of Oregon against the Department of Homeland Security recounts horror stories of peaceful people being kidnapped, held blindfold, handcuffed, and incommunicado for just two hours and then let go. There is no reason to disturb those people. The people they should stop are the ones with the baseball bats.”
“The federal government can’t do what it doesn’t have the authority to do,” he added. “And it shouldn’t do anything without the coordination of the locals.”
Acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf told Fox News on Monday that he does not need an “invitation” from local officials before deploying federal law enforcement.
“I don’t need invitations by the state, state mayors or state governors to do our job. We’re going to do that, whether they like us there or not,” Wolf said.
