Members of the federal strike force deployed in Portland, courtesy of Doug Brown of the ACLU of Oregon.

Militarized Federal Troops in U.S. Cities Sent by Trump Administration Deploy Private Drug-War Contractors, Flown from Mexico Border

Flight records, a former chief-of-staff of Homeland Security and a former DEA agent are among sources that confirm their origin

President Donald Trump’s deployment of U.S. military troops on June 1 against peaceful protesters in Washington, D.C., included his announcement that he would send U.S. Armed Forces into American cities to, he said, “dominate the streets.” In the days that followed, members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and top Pentagon officials publicly rebuked the president and rejected his plan.

The heavily-armed, camouflaged and undercover SWAT-like forces with cloaked identities that have appeared recently in Portland, Oregon, and other U.S. cities have used military tactics against peaceful protesters, but they are not members of the Armed Forces. They have refused daily requests by local officials and news media reporters to identify their agency or origin, as they have unleashed a wave of violent attacks to provoke largely peaceful protesters. Their presence has itself provoked larger and more confrontational protests than those they were purportedly sent to control.