07/24/20
The Lead Federal Agency Responding to Protesters in Portland Employs Thousands of Private Contractors

Congress needs to shine a light on the use of private security firms, including ‘Blackwater’ legacy companies, in Trump’s response to ongoing civil rights protests
By: Bill Conroy
Tóm lươc:
Lực lượng cảnh sát được điều động đến Portland đa phần là
private contractors từ các công ty như
Blackwater (nay gọi là Triple Canopy), dưới quyền của nha Federal Protective Service (FPS) có nhiệm vụ bảo vệ tài sản của chính phủ Liên Bang, trực thuộc Bộ Nội An (DHS).
Trong training guide của FPS có ghi rơ: “
an FPS security guard does not make arrests.”
****
The Trump administration’s deployment of federal law enforcers in Portland, Oregon, as part of a supposed effort to protect government property has prompted at least two lawsuits alleging that their show of force has resulted in abuses of authority and the unnecessary use of violence against peaceful protesters, journalists and observers.
What has not been reported widely in the media, however, is the fact that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) unit that is coordinating the “crowd control” effort — an agency called the Federal Protective Service (FPS) — is composed largely of contract security personnel. Those contractors are being furnished to FPS by major private-sector security companies like Blackwater corporate descendant Triple Canopy as well as dozens of other private security firms.
In fact, FPS spends more than $1 billion a year on these contract security guards who are authorized to conduct crowd control at federal properties, such as those in Portland. And, based on available photographic and document evidence, it appears those private contractors are now part of the federal force arrayed in Portland and are likely to be part of the federal response President Trump has promised to stand up in multiple other cities, including Chicago, Detroit, New York, Philadelphia and other urban centers led by Democratic mayors across the country.
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