Article by Karen Townsend in "HotAir"
The United Nations is weighing in on the Portland riots. The intergovernmental organization cites concerns about reports of “peaceful” protesters suffering from abuse at the hands of federal and local law enforcement. Cue the human rights spokeswoman.
“There have been reports that peaceful protesters have been detained by unidentified police officers and that is a worry because it may place those detained outside the protection of the law and may give rise to arbitrary detention and other human rights violations,” Liz Throssell, a U.N. human rights spokeswoman, said at a news briefing in Geneva on Friday.
“The authorities should ensure that federal and local security forces deployed are properly and clearly identified and would use force only when necessary, proportionately and in accordance with international standards,” she said.
Note that the spokeswoman is speaking from Geneva, which, last time I looked, isn’t even in the United States. She’s expressing the U.N.’s concern from overseas. What, was no one available in that big building in Turtle Bay?
This is a reaction to President Trump’s decision to send in members of the Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, Federal Protective Service and U.S. Marshals Service to both Portland and Washington, D.C. to protect federal property and assist local law enforcement. For the umpteenth time, these crowds consist of violent anarchists and agitators, including Antifa, not peaceful protesters just asserting First Amendment rights. The media and the left continue to believe if they say something enough times, it becomes the truth.
These “peaceful protesters” attack law enforcement, whether it is federal officers or local cops. We’ve all seen video footage of Molotov cocktails and other dangerous objects being hurled at law enforcement, as well as fires being started to burn down federal property. These protests began as Black Lives Matter protests after the death of George Floyd but we are way beyond that now. George Floyd’s name isn’t even mentioned anymore and these riots have nothing to do with him. You can argue about the visual optic of law enforcement becoming militarized or about their uniforms, or even about crowd control tactics but these officers are doing the job that is asked of them. They place themselves between the violent rioters and innocent people. They are not stormtroopers or the Gestapo as Democrats call them.
The United Nations can step back and take a seat. Any allegations of excessive force or bad behavior on the part of law enforcement are being addressed.
A federal judge in Portland Thursday barred federal officers from dispersing, arresting, threatening to arrest or using force against journalists or legal observers and demanded that they immediately stop detaining protesters without probable cause. The judge also mandated over 100 federal officers to identify themselves and their agency before arresting anyone and to explain why an arrest is taking place.
The Department of Justice also announced a probe into the use of force by federal officers after Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler was tear-gassed by officers just a day before.
Journalists and “legal observers” are being protected, now by a federal judge, if any of the allegations concerning abuse against them prove to be true.
The United Nations’ criticism falls on deaf ears to many Americans because of its inconsistency in calling out real abuse by murdering dictators. The United States left the U.N. Human Rights Council in 2018, for example, over its inclusion of Venezuela and Eritrea. Permanent members include China and Russia. Spare us the sanctimonious lectures now.
https://hotair.com/archives/karen-townsend/2020/07/24/u-n-u-s-stop-using-excessive-force-protesters-journalists-portland-cities/
