Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf tells 'Fox & Friends' that Portland saw little criminal activity overnight after Oregon state and Portland police stepped in.
This is an unofficial transcript meant for reference. Accuracy is not guaranteed.
Pete Brian Ainsley
Ainsley all right.
Thank you. Griff
lets talk about Portland
because some of the state
troopers there locally are
moving in because the president
has said. If you all arent going
to guard the courthouse there
and federal buildings there,
then we are going to send in our
troops our federal troops to
come in and guard that
now he is saying the National
Guard will come in if these
state troopers cant do the job,
and then he also said officials
will clear out of the behive of
terrorists.
Listen to the president.
These protesters
and many should be arrested,
because these are professional
agitators.
These are professional
anarchists.
These are people that hate our
country
were telling them. We are coming
in soon the National Guard.
These are people that not just
have to guard the courthouse and
save it.
These are people that are
allowed to go forward and do
what they have to do.
I think that makes the
governors job and the mayors
job a lot easier.
They are working today and
probably tomorrow, to clean out
this behive of terrorists and
slowly we can start to leave the
city
if they dont do it, we will be
sending in the national guard.
Ainsley lets bring in acting
DHS Secretary Chad, Wolf to find
out the latest in Portland
good Morning to you
good morning,
Ainsley good morning.
How did it work last night?
It worked fairly. Well,
what we saw is we saw a robust
contingent of Oregon state
police come into the area
yesterday afternoon, together
with Portland Police Bureau,
they cleaned out the parks
across the street from the
courthouse and what we saw
overnight is almost little to no
criminal activity,
and that really is how it should
be.
It reinforces the principle if
you work with federal state and
local law enforcement work
together, we can protect our
communities,
we can secure our communities,
we can secure federal properties
and protect law enforcement
officers.
This is what we have been asking
for, or over sixty days and im. Glad
Oregon and Portland has finally
accepted up to the challenge.
Brian, you the way I understand
it. There were one hundred state troopers
there guarding and you guys were
standing by should something go
wrong.
All you asked TED Wheeler to do
is use his state police to guard
federal buildings.
Whenhe wouldnt had you no choi.
The mayor makes you the bad guy,
and now you sit there now.
Finally, the governor saw that
you werent backing down and did
what you asked him to do all
along.
Does that feel good to a degree?
Well, Brian, it certainly
reinforce what is we have been
saying all along. We are going to
continue to courthouse
thats our job and
responsibility.
We are not backing away from
that. What we have been asking,
Portland and Oregon to do to
police city streets, police city
parks,
do their jobs and arrest,
individuals that are committing
criminal acts
and, finally, after over sixty days,
they have decided to step up and
do their job.
Unfortunately, within those sixty
days, we have had over two hundred and forty DHS
law enforcement officers injured
because of the criminal and
violent activity every night
PETE. Mr Secretary, over those
sixty days, have you seen a lot of
violence
which is required? Use of force
people protecting federal
property, the mayor there Mayor
TED Wheeler: is he not staring
down those people and locking
them up instead? Is he
apologizing
I apologize to those
nonviolent demonstrators who
were subjected to the use of CS
gas or orad. It
should never have happened.
I take personal responsibility
for it
and im sorry.
I also want to draw a clear
distinction between the Portland
Police Use, the CS gas and what
we are seeing. The federal
officers use.
The federal officers are using
CS gas broadly indiscriminately
and nightly,
and that is why it is escalating
the behavior we are seeing on
the streets rather than
descalating it
PETE. So are the rules of
engagement for federal officers
there to use gas broadly on
peaceful protesters?
Absolutely not
what the mayor quoted just now
is completely inaccurate.
I believe he knows it to be
inaccurate,
but again is he putting
politics over public safety?
What we know is there are
nonviolent peaceful protests
that the occur in Portland that
occur around that courthouse
every day
and there are no issues:
the violent criminal activity
that the mayor is again not
telling you the truth about,
occurs between midnight and 500
a dot m every morning, and it is
violent, violent criminals and
other opportunists, violent
opportunists that are attacking
that courthouse and thats. What
we are concerned about
there are no peaceful protesting
going on at 330 and 400 a dot m
in the morning at that
courthouse
that occurs earlier in the day,
and there are no issues.
So the mayor is intentionally
confusing issues and again
playing politics over public
safety
Ainsley. If you just think about
common sense here,
look peaceful protest: you
dont, need tear gas right.
We all agree. You can peaceably
protest
when it gets violent and see all
these videos of tons of people
going toward like ten or fifteen
officers that are trying to
guard a monument or a courthouse,
and I am worried about their
safety
and when you have individuals
throwing rocks and bottles at
them. The police officers in
Portland found recently a sledge
hammer, gas cans,
and so these officers were
asking them to go out there and
then what are they supposed to
do when these crowds start
coming for them?
Tear gas is not going to kill
you
its going to keep the violent
people away from hurting our
police officers.
What do you make of the increase of violence
of violence?
Take a very defensive posture
in doing that, engage the violent
individuals to push them back
away from the fence line that we
have established there. What we
have been saying all along these
individuals shouldnt be able to
congregate in city parks and
city streets to do this violent
activity.
We have been asking for sixty days
for Portland Police to do their
job, for whatever reason it took
sixty days, it took my law
enforcement, two hundred and forty five injuries
over ninety arrests for them to step
up and to do their job
im glad they are here,
im glad theyre partnering with
us. We can hopefully bring this
to a peaceful conclusion very
quickly,
Brian demonstrating outside of
your house and doing it outside
the police commissioners house
around the Nypd commissioners
house.
This is the new trend go to
their house. Even the liberal
mayors are getting protested.
There vow got to worry about
your own security
in the big picture.
Do the federal troops? Excuse
me, agents move out of Portland
and, if so, what date, and are you
going to leave Seattle as well
as we head to a weekend where
they tell you you cant, use
legally, the City Council said
you are not supposed to use a
fence
there in Portland, we are
remaining in Portland.
All of our DHS officers that
have been there over the past sixty
day also remain there in
Portland. Until we are assured
that the plan that has been put
in place by the Governor and
Oregon state police will be
effective night after night
after night
yesterday or last night was the
first night that they have been
deployed.
What we know are the weekends
are more violent, so we are
going to remain there until we
are assured that that courthouse
is safe and secure.
Other cities like Seattle, that
you mentioned and others we
have as we get intelligence
and threat information that
federal properties are targeted.
We send in stand by teams of law
enforcement personnel
and when that threat passes, we
remove those teams,
so its very much like we do
every other day of the year with
law enforcement arranged the
country
PETE. Mr Secretary real quick
exit question: what is the
threshold by which the National
Guard would be deployed?
We have heard the president talk
about that in Portland
sure.
Well, I think again we have
got to see if the Oregon state
police put together an effective
plan
if they dont and the criminal
activity continues there at the
courthouse
and the Oregon state police are
overrun.
Then thats certainly an option
that the President has continued
to talk about
its certainly an option that we
will look at,
but we are looking forward to
Oregon State police and others.
There
Portland police, that are now
involved in this issue. We hope
that they will do their job.
Transcript generated on 2020-08-01.