Voters Support Requiring Federal Law Enforcement to Identify Themselves

Executive Summary

In Portland, Oregon, federal agents in unmarked cars chased protestors and snatched them off the streets without explanation. One video shows federal agents in camouflage fatigues and generic “police” badges grabbing a protester, binding his hands, and placing him into the back of an unmarked minivan.

In Washington, D.C., during protests in front of the White House where protestors were teargassed, federal agents reportedly removed the insignia from their uniforms. Likewise, Bureau of Prisons personnel sent to protests as part of a “Special Operations Response Team” told reporters they were ordered not to identify themselves as working for the federal government.

The Trump administration’s use of anonymous federal law enforcement agents to patrol streets, quell protests, and round up demonstrators — in some cases over the express objections of local officials — met swift rebuke from both Democratic and Republican lawmakers, as well as experts and advocates who decried the use of secret police as authoritarian.