Chad Wolf: Oregon Leaders Making Violent Portland Situation Difficult

Local and state leaders in Oregon are "fostering an environment" that is making it difficult for law enforcement officials to do their job of bringing violence under control in Portland, and as a result, "we continue to see violent activity, violent anarchists" targeting federal facilities, acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf claimed Friday, after visiting the city Thursday evening.

"The [federal] courthouse has been under siege for over 47 nights," Wolf said on Fox News' "America's Newsroom," explaining that it has been targeted with graffiti and has had its windows broken. "There's a number of other federal facilities [and] that courthouse laid siege to night after night. DHS [Department of Homeland Security], that's our responsibility to protect that courthouse and other facilities."

He stressed that DHS has no problem with peaceful protesters, but "we are talking about a different group of individuals that have become violent and are targeting federal courthouses and we won't let that stand." 

Meanwhile, "morale is high" among the federal officers that are in Portland to defend the courthouse, said Wolf, but local, state, or U.S. senators are "more concerned about individuals, violent criminals and those crowds getting hurt then they are about my law enforcement officers."

He complained that the attitude is an "ongoing pattern," as local officials did "very little to intervene" in 2018 when the "ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] facility was laid siege to for 428 days."

Wolf said he visited to "send a signal" that DHS is not going to "retreat from its authority and responsibilities."

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler has accused the federal officers' presence of being politically motivated, but Wolf said he disagrees. 

"I placed a phone call not only to the mayor but to the governor earlier this week and my message was simple: 'What can DHS do to partner with you and bring an end to the violence?'" he said. "They cut me off and they didn't want to listen and they said, 'Please remove all of your law enforcement officers from Portland.'"

• Federal Officers Use Gas to Clear Protesters in Portland
• DHS Chief Wolf: Portland 'Under Siege' by 'Violent Anarchists'