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Barr says attacks on federal buildings would spread if law enforcement abandons Portland courthouse
From CNN's David Shortell, Josh Campbell and Devan Cole
Attorney General William Barr said that violent riots targeting federal buildings would spread across the country if law enforcement abandoned their defense of a courthouse in Portland that has been attacked nightly in the city.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that it would spread,” Barr said.
He continued: “We are concerned about this problem metastasizing around the country. And so we feel that we have to, in a place like Portland where we don’t have the support of the local government, we have to take a stand and defend this federal property. We can’t get to a level where were going to accept these kinds of violent attacks on federal courts.”
More on this: The administration is planning to keep federal agents in Portland through at least mid-October, according to an internal email obtained by CNN.
The email shows Customs and Border Protection offices being asked for teams of about 20 to 25 personnel. Specifically, the agency is looking for agents of a special unit that has received tactical training and can be called upon to deploy immediately when needed. The email also calls for agents from another Border Patrol unit that provides search and rescue response and intelligence personnel.
For several nights, the largely peaceful protests in the city have turned violent as a small subset of rioters have set fires and launched fireworks at the city's downtown federal courthouse. The issue has led local Portland city officials and members of the Trump administration to engage in a public war of words over who is to blame for the actions of rioters.
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