I’d seen video of this happening the other night but was waiting to hear more: Mine Furor’s semi-mysterious federal agents sent to Portland have been rolling up in unmarked cars and nabbing protesters, regardless of whether or not they are on federal property.
Federal law enforcement officers have been using unmarked vehicles to drive around downtown Portland and detain protesters since at least July 14. Personal accounts and multiple videos posted online show the officers driving up to people, detaining individuals with no explanation of why they are being arrested, and driving off.
[…]
But interviews conducted by OPB show officers are also detaining people on Portland streets who aren’t near federal property, nor is it clear that all of the people being arrested have engaged in criminal activity. Demonstrators like O’Shea and Pettibone said they think they were targeted by federal officers for simply wearing black clothing in the area of the demonstration.
This is in addition to having shot a protester in the head for the apparent crime of behaving like Lloyd Dobler outside Diane Court’s window.
Doubling-down on their unnerving tactics, the U.S. Marshalls Service says that they “did not arrest or detain Mark James Pettibone” despite him somehow ending up in custody inside the Federal courthouse up to and including being read his Miranda rights.