IFPTE Condemns the Attacks on Peaceful Protesters
Attacks on peaceful protesters in Portland, Oregon conducted by agents of the United States Government in unmarked vehicles, dressed in military fatigues and armed with military-style weaponry must stop. IFPTE calls on the Congressional leadership from both political parties to denounce the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Trump Administration, for their lawless actions against peaceful protestors in Portland. It is particularly important that Senate Majority Leader McConnell, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, and the entire Republican Leadership in the House and the Senate, finally stand up to this President by condemning these actions in the strongest possible terms. As a labor union, IFPTE holds sacred the right to peacefully protest against social injustices, walk picket lines, hold rallies, and strike for better wages and working conditions. What is occurring in Portland, and is reportedly planned to expand to Chicago and elsewhere, is an overt abuse of federal power – violently denying American citizens their basic constitutional rights and stealing their freedom.
Ultimately, the officials who directed these heavy-handed, repressive, and unlawful actions against citizens who are simply exercising their constitutional right to peacefully protest need to be held to account criminally and civilly for their disregard of their oath requiring them to defend the U.S. constitution.