The mayor of Oregon's largest city said Sunday the presence of federal agents is exacerbating tensions in Portland, which has seen nearly two months of nightly protests since the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Speaking on CNN's `State of the Union,' Democratic Mayor Ted Wheeler said federal officers "are not wanted here. We haven't asked them here. In fact, we want them to leave."
Late Saturday, protesters broke into a building, set it on fire and started dumpster fires, police said. Tear gas was deployed, according to pictures and video from the scene, but it was not necessarily CS gas. Fencing that had been placed around the federal courthouse had also been removed by protesters and made into barricades, police tweeted.
"What we're seeing is a blatant abuse of police tactics by the federal government, Wheeler said Sunday. However, federal officers and Portland police advanced simultaneously on demonstrators to clear the streets early Saturday, making arrests as protesters threw bottles and pieces of metal fencing.
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