Oregon Governor Announces Federal Officers Withdrawing From Portland

PORTLAND, OREGON - JULY 27: Federal police face off with protesters in front of the Mark O. Hatfield federal courthouse in downtown Portland as the city experiences another night of unrest on July 27, 2020 in Portland, Oregon. For over 57 straight nights, protesters in downtown Portland have faced off in often violent clashes with the Portland Police Bureau and, more recently, federal officers. The demonstrations began to honor the life of George Floyd and other black Americans killed by law enforcement and have intensified as the Trump administration called in the federal officers. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

The governor of Oregon is calling it a “phased withdrawal,” nonetheless federal officers sent to Portland by Donald Trump will soon be leaving.

“After discussions with the Vice President and administration officials this week, the federal government has agreed to my demand and will withdraw these officers from Portland. They will also clean up the Courthouse, removing the graffiti,” Gov. Kate Brown said.

JUST IN: Oregon Gov. Brown says the federal government had agreed to withdraw its law enforcement officers from Portland, where violent protests have persisted for weeks — but DHS indicated it would keep its officers on the ground for the time being. https://t.co/CLpCmuCbGk
— NBC Politics (@NBCPolitics) July 29, 2020

Meanwhile, the acting chief of Homeland Security released his own statement with a much different spin. Chad Wolf said federal agents will remain in Portland until certain conditions are met:

“We will continue to maintain our current, augmented federal law enforcement personnel in Portland until we are assured that the Hatfield Federal Courthouse and other federal properties will no longer be attacked and that the seat of justice in Portland will remain secure.

“The Department will continue to re-evaluate our security posture in Portland, and should circumstances on the ground significantly improve due to the influx of state and local law enforcement, we anticipate the ability to change our force posture,” Wolf added.

NBC News reports as of Wednesday, 114 federal officers were in Portland.