> "Nothing in the emails indicates that the DHS or the FBI exceeded its legal authorities in Portland. But it is not generally understood how extensive those authorities in fact are—they go far beyond those held by the DHS, especially if the president and attorney general get involved. Among the special powers granted exclusively to the FBI under a Reagan-era executive order (No. 12333) are authorizations to conduct “unconsented physical searches” and “physical surveillance” for intelligence purposes in the US. The Supreme Court has held that the Fourth Amendment generally requires law enforcement agencies to obtain a warrant before searching cell phone data, but there is an exception for “exigent circumstances,” which is supposed to apply only to extreme situations in which lives are in danger."
Despite the constant repetition of the "peaceful protestors" falsehood (a clever tactic to sweep the destruction and violence under the rug), peoples lives were being put in danger. Not just in Portland, but all over the country, and local law enforcement weren't doing their jobs.
> “It’s high time for the FBI and DHS to give Oregonians a straight answer about what their agents have been up to in Portland,” he said in a statement. “The full extent of federal surveillance in Portland remains unknown, but it would be outrageous if Oregonians were targeted because of their political activities.”
"Political activities" is just more clever turn-of-phrase to say "lighting things on fire and destroying private and public property with [politics] as a convenient excuse." There's a big gap between organizing, speaking, and holding up signs and throwing molotov cocktails into crowds.
A lot of what happened was/is domestic terrorism and the only reason it's being tiptoed around is because we're in an election year.