Border Patrol gunfire in Portland sets off urgent investigation
Alleged excessive force by US federal agents under investigation in Oregon as Republican lawmakers question Noem’s handling of Minnesota ICE-related shooting.
Officials in the US state of Oregon have launched an investigation after two people were injured in a shooting that involved US Border Patrol agents in Portland.
“We have been clear about our concerns with excessive use of force by federal agents in Portland and nationally,” Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield said in a statement on Friday.
“We have also been clear about our intent to investigate circumstances involving federal agents to ensure they are accountable to acting within the scope of their official duties.”
The attorney general added that the probe will look into whether federal officers “acted outside the scope of their lawful authority.”
The shooting in Portland, Oregon, took place outside a hospital on Thursday, and the conditions of the two people wounded were not immediately known.
The FBI’s Portland office said it is investigating.
Rising tensions
Just as it did following the Minneapolis shooting, the Department of Homeland Security defended the actions of the officers in Portland, saying the shooting occurred after a Venezuelan man with alleged gang ties who was involved in a recent shooting tried to “weaponise” his vehicle to hit the officers.
It wasn’t clear yet if witness video corroborates that account.
In Minneapolis, an ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) officer fatally shot 37-year-old mother of three Renee Good during an attempted arrest, sparking protests and investigations amid rising tensions.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem described the incident as an “act of domestic terrorism” carried out against ICE officers by a woman who “attempted to run them over and rammed them with her vehicle. An officer of ours acted quickly and defensively, shot, to protect himself and the people around him.”
Meanwhile, Republicans are expressing scepticism over Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem’s handling of response to the ICE officer fatally shooting a woman Noem has said was committing an “act of domestic terrorism.”
“It was very unusual to have a senior law enforcement official to draw a conclusion about an event where the scene was still being processed,” Senator Thom Tillis, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said regarding Noem’s statement.