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The union representing employees of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement has asked the national and federal authorities to open a criminal investigation into the mayor of Portland, Ted Wheeler, who allegedly led the police response to the ICE protests. this summer.
The political gesture, intended to draw attention to Wheeler's position against immigration enforcement measures, goes as far as to suggest that he should resign. temporarily as Commissioner of Police.
In letters sent Wednesday to US Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and to Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, the National Council of ICE asks officials to verify whether Wheeler had acted out of wrongly or violated the Constitution by ordering the Portland police not to answer certain calls to the service protesting the ICE field office in Portland.
Wheeler reacted with indignation and blamed the lawyer who drafted the letters, Sean Riddell, for doing what Wheeler had described as a series of false statements about what had happened.
"Make no mistake, they are suing me because I am a firm opponent of the administration's policy of separating children from their parents," Wheeler said in a statement. "Sean Riddell's previous statements have collapsed as a result of a new inspection and these claims, if they are the subject of an investigation, will also be."
Kristina Edmunson, a spokeswoman for Rosenblum, said her office had received the union's letter and was reviewing it. A spokesman for the Oregon District Attorney's Office forwarded the questions to the Department of Justice's headquarters in Washington, DC.
In the letters on behalf of the union, Riddell quotes Wheeler's public statements and messages from a mayor's advisor and a Portland Police Office captain directing the police to respond to the protest only in the event of immediate danger to the police. life or security. Riddell served as Deputy Attorney General of Oregon during the tenure of Attorney General John Kroger.
Wheeler said that he hated the actions of ice cream agents to separate some children and their parents threatened with deportation; his statements prompted a personal reprimand from President Trump.
In his statement on Wednesday, he added to these criticisms. "We now know that many of these children will become orphans permanently," said Wheeler. "It's wrong, I'm outraged by that."
The mayor had also already responded to Riddell's criticism stating that the city had done nothing wrong, arguing that Portland's passive approach was necessary to protect the protesters' freedom of speech.
Riddell wrote that Wheeler, as mayor and police commissioner, has the duty to enforce all Portland and state laws of Oregon. Riddell stated that Wheeler did not enforce laws prohibiting riots, harassment, disorderly behavior and illegal camping, according to the letters, first reported by the Portland Tribune and independently obtained by The Oregonian / OregonLive.
During the protracted protest, protesters blocked areas around the ICE's outdoor office, located southwest of Macadam Boulevard. They set up makeshift camps and sometimes clashed with federal police, resulting in arrests. In total, the federal police arrested 19 people, mainly for attempting to block the entrance to the office of the immigration agency or having torn police records delineating the limit federal property. Three of them were arrested for allegedly assaulting a federal officer.
Wheeler had then declared that he wanted to allow the federal police to enforce the property laws of the federal immigration office rather than letting the city police do so.
Riddell said that the mayor had ordered the municipal police not to answer certain calls to the service "in order to advance his personal political agenda, his political career and to punish the citizens whom he considered to have political convictions different. "
According to state law cited by Riddell, an official commits an official misconduct if he knowingly fails to perform his duties or if he commits an excess of unauthorized authority in the work. intention to take advantage or harm another person. Prosecution under the law is extremely rare.
Riddell said that if an investigation is to be opened, Wheeler should temporarily relinquish his duties as police commissioner.
– Gordon R. Friedman
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