US attorney: Feds will stay in Portland until attacks end

July 28, 2020

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — U.S. militarized officers will remain in Portland until attacks on a federal courthouse cease, a top official said Monday after another night of violence. And more officers may soon be on the way.

“It is not a solution to tell federal officers to leave when there continues to be attacks on federal property and personnel," U.S. Attorney Billy Williams said. ”We are not leaving the building unprotected to be destroyed by people intent on doing so.”

Local and state officials said the federal officers are unwelcome. Meanwhile, the mayors of Portland and five other major U.S. cities appealed Monday to Congress to make it illegal for the federal government to deploy militarized agents to cities that don't want them.

“This administration's egregious use of federal force on cities over the objections of local authorities should never happen,” the mayors of Portland, Seattle, Chicago, Kansas City, Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Washington wrote to leaders of the U.S. House and Senate.

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty late called for a meeting with Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf to discuss a cease-fire and removal of heightened federal forces from Portland.

The city has had nightly protests for two months since the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May. President Donald Trump said he sent federal agents to Portland to halt the unrest, but state and local officials said they are making the situation worse.

Trump’s deployment of the federal officers over the July 4 weekend stoked the Black Lives Matter movement. The number of nightly protesters had dwindled to perhaps less than 100 right before the deployment, and now has swelled to the thousands.

Early Monday, U.S. agents repeatedly fired tear gas, flash bangs and pepper balls at protesters outside the federal courthouse in downtown Portland. Some protesters had climbed over the fence surrounding the courthouse, while others shot fireworks, banged on the fence and projected lights on the building.

Trump said on Twitter that federal properties in Portland “wouldn’t last a day” without the presence of the federal agents. The majority of people participating in the daily demonstrations have been peaceful. But a few have been pelting officers with objects and trying to tear down fencing protecting the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse.

Williams, whose office is inside the courthouse, called on peaceful protesters, community and business leaders and people of faith to not allow violence to occur in their presence and to leave downtown before violence starts. He said federal agents have made 83 arrests.

Demonstrations in support of racial justice and police reform in other cities around the U.S. were marred by violence over the weekend. Protesters set fire to an Oakland, California, courthouse; vehicles were set ablaze in Richmond, Virginia; an armed protester was shot and killed in Austin, Texas; and two people were shot and wounded in Aurora, Colorado, after a car drove through a protest.

The U.S. Marshals Service has lined up about 100 people they could send to hotspots, either to strengthen forces or relieve officers who have been working for weeks, agency spokesperson Drew Wade said.

Kris Cline, principal deputy director of Federal Protective Service, said an incident commander in Portland and teams from the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice discuss what force is needed every night.

Cline refused to discuss the number of officers currently present or if more would be arriving. Some protesters have accused Wheeler of hypocrisy for speaking out against the federal presence because, under his watch, Portland police have used tear gas and other riot-control weapons on protesters, including peaceful ones.

Cline said Portland police should take over the job of dispersing protesters from the courthouse area from the federal officers. “If the Portland Police Bureau were able to do what they typically do, they would be able to clear this out for this disturbance and we would leave our officers inside the building and not be visible,” Cline said.

He said relations between the federal officers, some of whom live in Portland, and city police were good. Portland police responded Sunday evening to a shooting at a park close to the site of the protests. Two people were detained and later released, police said. The person who was shot went to the hospital in a private vehicle and was treated for a non-life-threatening wound.

Also late Sunday, police said someone pointed out a bag in the same park, where officers found loaded rifle magazines and Molotov cocktails. The shooting was not related to the items, police said.

Associated Press writer Mike Balsamo contributed to this report from Washington. Selsky reported from Salem, Oregon.

US agents use gas, flash bangs to clear Portland protesters

July 27, 2020

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A night that started with a reported shooting and a bag containing loaded rifle magazines and Molotov cocktails amid a peaceful protest — morphed into an intense early morning confrontation between demonstrators and law enforcement in Oregon's largest city.

U.S. agents repeatedly fired what appeared to be tear gas, flash bangs and pepper balls early Monday to clear a mass of protesters outside the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse in Portland. Some protesters had climbed over the fence surrounding the courthouse, while others shot fireworks, banged on the fence and projected lights on the building.

The federal courthouse has been a place of contention as the city has seen nightly protests for two months since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May. President Donald Trump said he sent federal agents to Portland to halt the unrest but state and local officials said they are making the situation worse.

The protest late Sunday started peacefully, with organizers giving speeches and leading chants with the crowd. But things intensified as the night wore on. U.S. agents declared an “unlawful assembly,” and just after 1 a.m., confronted protesters on the street and worked to clear the area. Several people were seen being detained, but it was not immediately clear how many may have been arrested.

Law enforcement spent hours working to disperse the crowd. At times, protesters scattered amid flash bangs. Officers deployed more tear gas and less-lethal munitions, and formed a line to push back demonstrators. Many dispersed, but several protesters remained well after 2 a.m.

It's become an all-too-familiar scene in Portland. Authorities declared a riot early Sunday morning. Protesters had breached a fence surrounding the city’s federal courthouse building where U.S. agents have been stationed. Protesters remained in the streets past 2:30 a.m., forming lines across intersections and holding makeshift shields, as police patrolled and closed blocks abutting the area. Portland police say they arrested six people.

Sunday evening, Portland police had responded to a shooting at Lownsdale Square Park, near where the overnight protests have been taking place. Two people were taken into custody and later released, police said Monday morning. The person who was shot went to the hospital in a private vehicle and was treated for a non-life threatening wound.

Also late Sunday, police said someone pointed out a bag in the same park, where officers found loaded rifle magazines and Molotov cocktails. The shooting and the items in the bag were not related, police said. It's unclear whether either incident was connected to the protest.

Portland police said the department's officers were not involved in dispersing the crowds during the protest early Monday.

Police and protesters clash in violent weekend across the US

July 27, 2020

ATLANTA (AP) — Protests took a violent turn in several U.S. cities over the weekend with demonstrators squaring off against federal agents outside a courthouse in Portland, Oregon, forcing police in Seattle to retreat into a station house and setting fire to vehicles in California and Virginia.

A protest against police violence in Austin, Texas, turned deadly when police said a protester was shot and killed by a person who drove through a crowd of marchers. And someone was shot and wounded in Aurora, Colorado, after a car drove through a protest there, authorities said.

The unrest Saturday and early Sunday stemmed from the weeks of protests over racial injustice and the police treatment of people of color that flared up after the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Floyd, who was Black and handcuffed, died after a white police officer used his knee to pin down Floyd's neck for nearly eight minutes while Floyd begged for air.

In Seattle, police officers retreated into a precinct station early Sunday, hours after large demonstrations in the city’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. Some demonstrators lingered after officers filed into the department’s East Precinct around 1 a.m., but most cleared out a short time later, according to video posted online.

At a late-night news conference, Seattle police Chief Carmen Best called for peace. Rocks, bottles, fireworks and mortars were fired at police during the weekend unrest, and police said they arrested at least 45 people for assaults on officers, obstruction and failure to disperse. Twenty-one officers were hurt, with most of their injuries considered minor, police said.

In Portland, thousands of people gathered Saturday evening for another night of protests over George Floyd’s killing and the presence of federal agents recently sent to the city by President Donald Trump. Protesters breached a fence surrounding the city’s federal courthouse building where the agents have been stationed.

Police declared the situation to be a riot and at around 1:20 a.m., they began ordering people to leave the area surrounding the courthouse or risk arrest, saying on Twitter that the violence had created “a grave risk” to the public. About 20 minutes later, federal officers and local police could be seen attempting to clear the area and deploying tear gas, however protesters remained past 2:30 a.m., forming lines across intersections and holding makeshift shields as police patrolled and closed blocks abutting the area. Multiple arrests were made, but it wasn’t immediately clear how many.

In the Texas capital of Austin, 28-year-old Garrett Foster was shot and killed Saturday night by a person who had driven through the march against police violence. Austin Police Chief Brian Manley said a car turned onto the block where protesters stood and honked its horn. The driver and several witnesses told police that Foster approached the driver and pointed an assault rifle at them.

In video streamed live on Facebook, a car can be heard honking before several shots ring out and protesters start screaming and scattering for cover. Police could then be seen tending to someone lying in the street.

Manley said the driver called 911 to report the incident and was later taken into custody and released. Police didn’t immediately identify the driver. Sheila Foster, Garrett's mother, said she was told her son was pushing his fiancée, who uses a wheelchair, through an intersection when the suspect was driving “erratically” through the crowd. She said she was told the driver shot her son three times.

In the Denver suburb of Aurora, Colorado, meanwhile, a protester shot and wounded someone after a car drove through a crowd marching on an interstate highway, police said. The wounded person was taken to a hospital in stable condition. Police didn’t release many details about the shooting, including whether the person who was shot had been in the car. Police said on Twitter that demonstrators also caused “major damage” to a courthouse.

Protesters in Oakland, California, set fire to a courthouse, damaged a police station, broke windows, spray-painted graffiti, shot fireworks and pointed lasers at officers after a peaceful demonstration Saturday evening turned to unrest, police said.

In Virginia's capital, Richmond, a dump truck was torched as several hundred protesters and police faced off late Saturday during a demonstration of support for the protesters in Portland. Police declared it to be an “unlawful assembly” at around 11 p.m. and used what appeared to be tear gas to disperse the group. Five people were arrested in the incident and charged with unlawful assembly. A sixth person was also arrested and charged with rioting and assault on a law enforcement officer.

In downtown Atlanta on Sunday, federal agents examined damage to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility where windows were shattered late Saturday. The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security, FBI spokesman Kevin Rowson said in an email. No arrests had been announced.

And in Baltimore, people from a group of nearly 100 demonstrators spray-painted anti-police messages on a Fraternal Order of Police building and adjacent sidewalks on Saturday night, The Baltimore Sun reported.

Associated Press writers Gillian Flaccus and Sara Cline in Portland, Oregon, and Sally Ho and Chris Grygiel in Seattle contributed to this report.

Competing protesters converge on Breonna Taylor's hometown

July 26, 2020

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Hundreds of armed, predominantly Black, activists demanded justice for Breonna Taylor during peaceful demonstrations Saturday in her Kentucky hometown that drew counter-protesters from a white militia group.

Police closed streets and set up barricades to keep the two groups apart as tensions remained on edge in Louisville, where protests have flared for months over the death of Taylor, a Black woman killed when police busted into her apartment in March.

By the time Black activists dressed in black fatigues arrived in the heart of downtown Saturday afternoon, most of the white militia members had already left. Police in full riot geared looked on. Earlier in the day, three people were accidentally shot at a park where Black activists had gathered, police said. The victims, all of whom were members of the militia group, were taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, police said.

“This is a tragic situation that could have been much worse," Louisville Metro Police Chief Robert Schroeder said in a news release. "I encourage anyone choosing to exercise their Second Amendment rights to do so responsibly.”

The Black activists had converged on Louisville to demand justice for Taylor. Calls for a national reckoning over racism and police brutality intensified following the deaths of Taylor and George Floyd in Minneapolis.

“This is something that has been happening around the country for years and years and years,” said Brianna Wright, who joined in the demonstrations Saturday. “This is nothing new. The justice we get for her will influence justice around the entire country. And if we don’t get justice ... it will also influence the entire country. Because they’ll think, ‘It’s OK, we can get away with it.' But we need to show them that Black people are not going to stand for this anymore.”

The only confrontation among the competing groups appeared to occur earlier Saturday when white militia members and Black Lives Matter activists yelled at each other over the police barricades. Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron’s office is heading an investigation into Taylor's death.

Taylor, a 26-year-old EMT, was fatally shot when police officers burst into her Louisville apartment using a no-knock warrant during a narcotics investigation. The warrant to search her home was in connection with a suspect who did not live there and no drugs were found.

Police declare riot at Seattle protests, make arrests

July 26, 2020

SEATTLE (AP) — Seattle police declared a riot Saturday following large demonstrations in the city's Capitol Hill neighborhood and deployed flash bangs and pepper spray to try to clear an area near where weeks earlier people had set up an “occupied protest zone” that stretched for several blocks.

Via Twitter, police said they had made more than two dozen arrests for assault on officers, obstruction and failure to disperse. They also said they were “investigating a possible explosive damage" to the walls of the city's East Precinct police station.

Authorities said rocks, bottles, fireworks and mortars were thrown at officers as they attempted to clear the area over the course of several hours stretching into Saturday night. One officer was hospitalized with a leg injury caused by an explosive.

Earlier, protesters in Seattle broke through a fence where a youth detention facility was being built, with some people setting a fire and damaging a portable trailer, authorities said. Thousands of protesters had initially gathered peacefully near downtown in a show of solidarity with fellow demonstrators in Portland, Oregon, where tensions with federal law enforcement have boiled over during protests stemming from the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Initially there was no sign of law enforcement near the Seattle march. Later, Seattle Police said via Twitter that about a dozen people breached the construction site for the King County youth detention facility. Also, police said protesters broke out windows at a King County court facility.

Earlier this week King County Executive Dow Constantine, in response to long-standing demands by community activists, said he would work to eliminate youth detention centers in the county by 2025. After the fire at the construction site authorities said they had ordered people to leave a different area, in a section of Capitol Hill, near downtown, where the East Precinct is. At least one person broke through a fence line at the precinct, authorities said, and moments later a device explosive that left an 8-inch (20-centimeter) hole in the side of the precinct.

Earlier this month police cleared the “Capitol Hill Occupied Protest” zone after two fatal shootings. A group had occupied several blocks around a park for about two weeks following standoffs and clashes that were part of the nationwide unrest over the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Prior to Saturday's protests Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best had announced officers would be armed with pepper spray and other weapons, promising officers would not use tear gas and urging demonstrators to remain peaceful.

“In the spirit of offering trust and full transparency, I want to advise you that SPD officers will be carrying pepper spray and blast balls today, as would be typical for events that carry potential to include violence,” Best said.

At an emergency hearing on Friday night, U.S. District Judge James Robart granted a request from the federal government to block Seattle’s new law prohibiting police from using pepper spray, blast balls and similar weapons.

The temporary restraining order halts the law that the Seattle City Council passed unanimously last month after confrontations that have largely been peaceful but were occasionally marked by violence, looting and highway shutdowns. The law intended to de-escalate tensions between police and demonstrators was set to take effect on Sunday.

But the U.S. Department of Justice, citing Seattle’s longstanding police consent decree, successfully argued that banning the use of crowd control weapons could actually lead to more police use of force, leaving them only with more deadly weapons.

Mayor of Portland, Oregon, tear gassed by federal agents

July 23, 2020

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The mayor of Portland, Oregon, was tear gassed by the U.S. government late Wednesday as he stood at a fence guarding a federal courthouse during another night of protest against the presence of federal agents sent by President Donald Trump to quell unrest in the city.

Mayor Ted Wheeler, a Democrat, said it was the first time he’d been tear gassed and appeared slightly dazed and coughed as he put on a pair of goggles someone handed him and drank water. He didn't leave his spot at the front, however, and continued to take gas. Around Wheeler, the protest raged, with demonstrators lighting a large fire in the space between the fence and the Mark O. Hatfield Federal Courthouse and the pop-pop-pop of federal agents deploying tear gas and stun grenades into the crowd.

It wasn't immediately clear if the federal agents knew Wheeler was in the crowd when they used the tear gas. Earlier in the night, Wheeler was mostly jeered as he tried to rally demonstrators who have clashed nightly with federal agents but was briefly applauded when he shouted “Black Lives Matter” and pumped his fist in the air. The mayor has opposed federal agents’ presence in Oregon’s largest city, but he has faced harsh criticism from many sides and his presence wasn’t welcomed by many, who yelled and swore at him.

“I want to thank the thousands of you who have come out to oppose the Trump administration’s occupation of this city," Wheeler told hundreds of people gathered downtown near the federal courthouse. “The reason this is important is it is not just happening in Portland ... we're on the front line here in Portland.”

Some Portland residents, including City Council members, have accused Wheeler of not reining in local police, who have used tear gas multiple times before federal agents arrived early this month in response to nearly two months of nightly protests since George Floyd was killed. Others, including business leaders, have condemned Wheeler for not bringing the situation under control before the agents showed up.

Department of Homeland Security acting Secretary Chad Wolf said federal agents were not inflaming the situation in Portland. He told “CBS This Morning” on Thursday that the mayor was legitimizing criminality in the city.

“What we know is before DHS law enforcement, civil law enforcement, officers arrived in Portland, the mayor is on record as saying that the city is on — has a certain level of violence," Wolf said. “It was ongoing well for a month before we arrived."

Protesters in the crowd held signs aloft that read “Tear Gas Ted” in reference to the Portland Police Bureau's use of the substance before federal agents arrived. When the mayor left the protest, around 12:40 a.m., some protesters surrounded him and shouted angrily at him as he walked away. One person shouted, “You've got to be here every single night!”

While taking questions Wednesday night — and before he was tear gassed — Wheeler was criticized for the actions of his own police department, not defunding the local police, national movement that seeks to redirect funds from policing to community needs like housing and education, and not having Portland police protect people from federal agents. The mayor said he wants to use the energy of the protests to make changes.

Wheeler then addressed the much larger crowd from a raised balcony, saying “I am here tonight to stand with you.” Earlier Wednesday, the City Council banned police from cooperating with federal agents or arresting reporters or legal observers.

Wheeler's tense nighttime appearance downtown came hours after attorneys for Oregon urged a judge to issue a restraining order against agents deployed to quell the protests. The arguments from the state and the U.S. government came in a lawsuit filed by Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, who accuses federal agents of arresting protesters without probable cause, whisking them away in unmarked cars and using excessive force. Federal authorities have disputed those allegations.

The lawsuit is part of the growing pushback to Trump sending federal agents to Portland and announcing they would be going to Chicago and Albuquerque, New Mexico, to fight rising crime, a move that’s deepening the country’s political divide and potentially setting up a constitutional crisis months ahead of the presidential election. Democratic mayors of 15 cities condemned the use of federal officers in a letter to the U.S. attorney general.

The court hearing focused on the actions of more than 100 federal agents responding to protests outside the Mark O. Hatfield Federal Courthouse, which has been a target for the demonstrations. The motion for a temporary restraining order asks U.S. District Judge Michael Mosman to command agents from the Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Patrol, Federal Protective Service and U.S. Marshals Service to immediately stop detaining protesters without probable cause, identify themselves and their agency before arresting anyone, and explain why an arrest is taking place.

The state acknowledged that federal agents have the right to defend the courthouse but argued that they had overstepped. Rosenblum, the state attorney general, said she wanted the court to “declare it not acceptable for federal officers to use unconstitutional, police-state-type acts to detain citizens of Oregon without cause.”

David Morrell, an attorney for the U.S. government, called the motion “extraordinary” and said it was based solely on “a few threadbare declarations” from witnesses and a Twitter video. “The Hatfield courthouse did not damage itself,” he said, calling the protests “dangerous and volatile.”

The lawsuit is one of several filed over authorities’ response to the Portland protests. On Thursday, a judge will hear arguments in a legal challenge that the American Civil Liberties Union filed on behalf of journalists and legal observers who say they were targeted and attacked by Portland police while documenting demonstrations.

A freelance photographer covering the protests for The Associated Press submitted an affidavit that he was beaten with batons, chemical irritants and hit with rubber bullets. A U.S. judge previously ruled that journalists and legal observers are exempt from police orders requiring protesters to disperse once an unlawful assembly has been declared. Federal lawyers say that journalists should have to leave when ordered.

The ACLU filed another lawsuit Wednesday on behalf of volunteer medics who have been attending to injured protesters. It alleges that federal agents have used rubber bullets, tear gas, pepper spray, batons and stun grenades against medics in violation of federal protections for freedom of speech and freedom of movement.

Police say protesters have tried repeatedly to break into the federal courthouse and set fires around it and that the federal agents drive them back with tear gas and stun grenades. Federal authorities have defended their response, saying officials in Oregon had been unwilling to work with them to stop the vandalism against the the U.S. courthouse and violence against federal officers.

Associated Press writers Sara Cline in Salem, Oregon, Nicholas K. Geranios in Spokane, Washington, and Colleen Long and Ben Fox in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.

US names new Arctic envoy in push to expand reach in region

July 29, 2020

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Wednesday named a special envoy for the Arctic, filling a post that had been vacant for more than three years as the administration seeks a greater role in the region and tries to blunt growing Russian and Chinese influence there.

The State Department's appointment of veteran career diplomat Jim DeHart to be U.S. coordinator for the Arctic came just a week after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo vowed enhanced U.S. engagement in the Arctic on a visit to Denmark and a month after the White House ordered the construction of a fleet of new icebreakers to ply the region by 2029.

The U.S. opened a consulate in Denmark's semi-autonomous territory of Greenland earlier this year as part of its new Arctic strategy, and Pompeo met with officials from Greenland and the Faroe Islands while he was in Copenhagen.

The opening of the consulate in Greenland attracted attention because of President Donald Trump’s stated interest last year in purchasing it from Denmark, which drew strong objections. Although that possibility is off the table, the U.S. has announced a $12 million aid and development package for Greenland that DeHart will help shepherd, according to officials.

Pompeo has spoken in the past about the Trump administration's determination to prevent Russia and China from playing a dominant role in the Arctic, which is heavily affected by climate change. Russia has expanded military bases in its Arctic regions, and China has sought to declare itself a “near-Arctic nation” despite having no territory near the area.

Environmentalists criticized Pompeo last year when he spoke at an Arctic Council event in Finland and said the U.S. and others should exploit changes, including sharp reductions in ocean ice, for economic benefit, including the opening of new sea lines and greater opportunities for energy and mineral extraction.

DeHart’s appointment fills an empty slot in the department’s senior ranks that had been created during the Obama administration but remained vacant since President Donald Trump took office and the previous coordinator, retired Coast Guard Adm. Robert Papp, stepped down.

“The United States plays a critical leadership role on Arctic issues within the international community and remains committed to ensuring a peaceful region where U.S. interests are safeguarded, the U.S. homeland is protected, and Arctic states work cooperatively to address shared challenges,” the State Department said in a statement.

DeHart is 28-year foreign service officer and was most recently senior adviser for security negotiations and agreements. He had been leading discussions with South Korea over the continued presence of U.S. troops there. He has also served as the No. 2 diplomat in Norway, which has extensive Arctic interests.

Officials: US is bringing 6,400 troops home from Germany

July 29, 2020

WASHINGTON (AP) — Spurred on by President Donald Trump's demand to pull troops out of Germany, the U.S. will bring about 6,400 forces home and shift about 5,400 to other countries in Europe, U.S. defense officials said Wednesday, detailing a Pentagon plan that will cost billions of dollars and take years to complete.

The decision fulfills Trump's announced desire to withdraw troops from Germany, at least in part due to its failure to spend enough on defense. U.S. officials said that some moves will begin in months and would likely send air and ground forces to countries that already have an American troop presence. The plan leaves about 25,000 troops in Germany.

The announcement is closely tied to the plan to increase the U.S. troop presence in Poland, a shift long-desired by Warsaw and Polish President Andrzej Duda. The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss plans not yet announced, said the moves will cost “billions” and require construction at bases in the U.S. to accommodate the additional forces. The officials said that in the future other troops would rotate in and out of Europe.

Members of Trump’s own political party have criticized the troop move as a gift to Russia and a threat to U.S. national security. Twenty-two Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee fired back with a letter to Trump saying a reduced U.S. commitment to Europe’s defense would encourage Russian aggression and opportunism.

It's also unclear if the plan would survive if Trump is not reelected in November. Germany is a hub for U.S. operations in the Middle East and Africa. The decision to keep nearly half the forces in Europe is a clear move by the Pentagon to assuage allies by avoiding the complete withdrawal of 10,000 troops out of the region. And by spreading forces into the East, it sends a message to Russia that the U.S. is not reducing its commitment to the region and remains ready to protect Eastern Europe from any Moscow aggression.

Sen. Jim Inhofe, the Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has voiced support for the plan while also acknowledging it will take “months to plan and years to execute.” He was briefed on the issue last week, and he issued a statement saying the “concept for realigning U.S. military posture in Europe” is sound.

Trump announced last month that he wanted to cut the number of active duty U.S. troops in Germany from roughly 36,000 to a bit more than 25,000. Shifting forces out of the country had long been rumored and is in line with Pentagon efforts to put more troops in the Indo-Pacific. But Trump’s comments indicated the move was tied more directly to his anger over Germany’s failure to meet NATO defense spending goals.

Trump has branded Germany “delinquent” for failing to meet a NATO goal set in 2014 for members to halt budget cuts and move toward spending at least 2% of gross national product on defense by 2024. And he asserted that the Germans had long shortchanged the United States on trade and defense, declaring that “until they pay” more for their own defense, he will reduce U.S. troops.

At a Rose Garden event last month with Duda, Trump said that some of the troops from Germany would go to Poland and some would go to “other places.” Under an agreement announced last year, the U.S. already said it was sending about 1,000 more troops to Poland, and progress is being made, officials said, to lay the groundwork for those moves. Based on that agreement, the U.S. will add a division headquarters, a combat training center, an unmanned aircraft squadron and structure to support an Army brigade that could rotate in and out of the country.

Overall, the U.S. has about 47,000 troops and civilian personnel in Germany, spread out across a number of bases, headquarters and smaller installations. Most of the 35,000 on active duty are in a handful of larger Army and Air Force bases including Ramstein Air Base, a hub in the region. There also are 2,600 National Guard and Reserve forces in Germany and almost 12,000 civilians working for the services or the Defense Department.

After Trump's meeting with Duda, Defense Secretary Mark Esper in early July made a rare overseas trip to NATO for a brief visit, seeking to reassure allies that Washington is still committed to the region and that he will consult with them on troops movements. Because of the coronavirus threats, international travel has been significantly limited.

Several NATO defense ministers had expressed concern about the decision to pull thousands of troops out of Germany, particularly since Trump has talked repeatedly about bringing troops home and getting the U.S. out of “endless wars.”

Former president who brought direct elections to Taiwan dies

July 31, 2020

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Former Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui, who brought direct elections and other democratic changes to the self-governed island despite missile launches and other fierce saber-rattling by China, has died. He was 97.

Taipei Veterans General Hospital said Lee died Thursday evening after suffering from infections, cardiac problems and organ failure since being hospitalized in February. Lee strove to create a separate, non-Chinese identity for Taiwan, angering not only China, which considers the island part of its territory, but also members of his Nationalist Party who hoped to return victorious to the mainland.

Lee later openly endorsed formal independence for the island but illness in his later years prompted him to largely withdraw from public life. “President Lee’s contribution to Taiwan’s democratic journey was irreplaceable and his death is a great loss for the country," current President Tsai Ing-wen said in a statement.

Tsai's predecessor, Ma Ying-jeou of the Nationalists, who earlier served in Lee's Cabinet, said Lee's contribution to Taiwan's democratization “deserves recognition from the people." “Although former President Lee’s political philosophy has undergone tremendous changes after his resignation, former President Ma is still grateful for his dedication to the country and believes that history will have a fair and objective evaluation," a statement from Ma's office said.

Physically imposing and charismatic, Lee spanned Taiwan’s modern history and was native to the island, unlike many who arrived with Chiang Kai-shek in 1949, at the end of the Chinese civil war. At times gruff, at times personable, he left little doubt he was the man in charge in almost any setting.

“A leader must be tough and strong enough so he can put an end to disputes and chaotic situations,” he wrote in his autobiography. He was born in a farming community near Taipei on Jan 15, 1923, near the midpoint of Japan’s half-century colonial rule. The son of a Japanese police aide, he volunteered in the Imperial Japanese Army and returned to Taiwan as a newly commissioned second lieutenant to help man an anti-aircraft battery.

He earned degrees in Japan and Taiwan, as well as at Iowa State University and Cornell University in New York. He worked for the U.S.-sponsored Joint Commission on Rural Reconstruction, which sought to encourage land reform and modernize Taiwanese agriculture. He was a member of overwhelmingly Buddhist Taiwan's Christian minority.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, noting Lee's close ties with Japan, praised him for his contributions to bolster friendship between Japan and Taiwan. “Many Japanese people have developed special attachment to President Lee as a leader who had established freedom, democracy and universal values in Taiwan and cornerstone of Japan-Taiwan relation,(asterisk) Abe said Friday.

In 1971, Lee joined the governing Nationalist Party. As a descendant of the people who migrated to the island from China in the 17th and 18th centuries, he was part of the party’s effort to broaden its base beyond the 1949 arrivals from the mainland. He was Taipei mayor, Taiwan province governor and vice president before succeeding to the presidency in 1988.

In his early years as president, Lee met significant resistance from Nationalist hard-liners who favored the party’s tradition of mainlander domination and resented Lee’s native status. He beat back the resistance, largely by giving his detractors important political positions.

In 1990, Lee signaled his support for student demands for direct elections of Taiwan’s president and vice president and the end of reserving legislative seats to represent districts on the Chinese mainland. The following year he oversaw the dismantling of emergency laws put into effect by Chiang Kai-shek’s government, effectively reversing the Nationalists’ long-standing goal of returning to the mainland and removing the Communists from power.

Communist China saw the democratic steps as a direct threat to its claim to Taiwan, and its anger was exacerbated when Lee visited the United States in 1995. To Beijing, Lee’s visit to Cornell signaled the United States was willing to accord special recognition to the ruler of a “renegade” Chinese province.

The U.S. made sure Lee did not meet with high-ranking American officials, including then-President Bill Clinton, but its attempts to dampen Chinese anger were unsuccessful. China soon began a series of threatening military maneuvers off the coast of mainland Fujian province that included the firing of missiles just off Taiwan’s coast. More missiles were fired immediately before the March 1996 presidential elections, and the U.S. response was to send aircraft carrier battle groups to Taiwan’s east coast in a show of support. Taiwanese were uncowed and the elections went ahead, with Lee victorious.

In a celebrated interview in late 1996, Lee declared that relations between Taiwan and China had the character of relations between two separate states. This was heresy, not only in the eyes of Beijing, but also for many Nationalists, who continued to see Taiwan as part of China, and looked forward to eventual union between the sides, though not necessarily under Communist control.

In 2000, Taiwan elected Chen Shui-bian of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party as president, ending a half-century of Nationalist monopoly. His election was virtually guaranteed by a split in the Nationalist Party, which had two representatives in the race. The retiring Lee had supported one of them but was still blamed for the split, and the party moved to expel him.

In 2001, supporters of Lee formed a new pro-independence party. The Taiwan Solidarity Union also wanted to break the cultural and political connection between the island and the mainland. Lee himself backed away from wanting a formal declaration of independence for Taiwan, insisting it already was, given the island was not Chinese Communist-controlled.

In 2012, he backed independence-minded candidate Tsai of the DPP, who lost to Ma, an avatar of closer ties between China and Taiwan. Tsai ran again and was elected in 2016, upping tensions again with China. Lee was ailing by that time and played little role in the election. Tsai won re-election this year by a healthy margin over her Nationalist challenger.

Lee is survived by his wife of seven decades, Tseng Wen-hui, and their two daughters. A son died in 1982 from cancer. There was no immediate announcement about funeral arrangements.

Hong Kong disqualifies 12 opposition nominees for assembly

July 30, 2020

HONG KONG (AP) — At least 12 Hong Kong pro-democracy nominees including prominent activist Joshua Wong were disqualified for September legislative elections, with authorities saying Thursday they failed to uphold the city's mini-constitution and pledge allegiance to Hong Kong and Beijing.

Others who were disqualified include democracy activist Tiffany Yuen from the disbanded political organization Demosisto, as well as incumbent lawmaker Dennis Kwok and three others from the pro-democracy Civic Party.

It marks a setback for the pro-democracy camp, which had aimed to win a majority of seats in the legislature this year. Earlier this month, they held an unofficial primary, with candidates including Wong topping the polls.

Wong said he was disqualified because he had described the city's recently imposed national security law as draconian, which indicated he did not support the law and thus invalidated his candidacy. “Clearly, Beijing shows a total disregard for the will of the Hongkongers, tramples upon the city’s last pillar of vanishing autonomy and attempts to keep Hong Kong’s legislature under its firm grip,” Wong said in a Facebook post on Thursday.

Wong and many pro-democracy nominees had been asked to clarify their political stance earlier this week as their nominations were being reviewed. Kwok said the disqualification of pro-democracy nominees was a political decision that amounted to political screening.

“Today we are seeing the results of the relentless oppression that this regime is starting ... to take away the basic fundamental rights and freedom that are once enjoyed by all Hong Kong people under the Basic Law,” Hong Kong's mini-constitution, Kwok said in a news conference.

“They also try to drive fear and oppression into our hearts and this, we must not let them succeed,” he said. Other nominees were still being reviewed, the government said in a statement expressing support for the disqualifications.

“We do not rule out the possibility that more nominations would be invalidated,” it said. Earlier Thursday, Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Lee Cheuk-yan denounced the new national security law imposed by Beijing in response to last year's massive protests calling for greater freedoms. He criticized authorities for arresting four youths under the law on suspicion of inciting secession via online posts.

“Hong Kong politics keeps changing,” said Lee. “Now they are using the national security law against the young people … these young people are being charged just for the things they said.” The four, aged between 16 to 21, were detained Wednesday for announcing on social media that they had set up an organization for Hong Kong independence. An organization called Studentlocalism – which disbanded ahead of the national security law taking effect on June 30 – said in a Facebook post that four of its former members had been arrested on secession charges.

Lee spoke ahead of a court appearance with 14 other pro-democracy activists, including former lawmaker Martin Lee and media tycoon Jimmy Lai. The group was arrested in April over anti-government protests last year and was charged with participating and inciting others to take part in an unauthorized assembly.

Lee said the U.N. Human Rights Committee recently affirmed that the notification of an assembly is not a requirement, and that participation in an unnotified assembly should not be a criminal offense.

“It very clearly vindicates us, we are exercising our rights,” Lee said.

Associated Press journalist Alice Fung in Hong Kong contributed to this report.

4 arrested under new Hong Kong security law for online posts

July 30, 2020

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong police have signaled their intent to enforce a new Chinese national security law strictly, arresting four youths Wednesday on suspicion of inciting secession through social media posts.

Three males and one female, aged 16 to 21, were detained, a police official said at an 11 p.m. news conference. All are believed to be students. “Our investigation showed that a group has recently announced on social media that they have set up an organization for Hong Kong independence," said Li Kwai-wah, senior superintendent of a newly formed unit to enforce the security law.

The 1-month-old law has chilled pro-democracy protesting as activists along with academics and others wonder if their activities could be targeted. The central government in Beijing imposed the national security law on the semi-autonomous Chinese territory after city leaders were unable to get one passed locally. The move has raised fears that Hong Kong's freedoms and local autonomy are being taken away.

Police did not identify the suspects or their group. An organization called Studentlocalism — which announced it was disbanding just before the law took effect — said on Facebook that four former members had been arrested on secession charges, including ex-leader Tony Chung.

The police action appeared to target the Initiative Independence Party, which says on its Facebook page that it consists of former Studentlocalism members who have completed their studies and are overseas.

The party, which also posted the news of Wednesday's arrests, advocates for independence because it believes full democracy for Hong Kong is impossible under Chinese rule, its Facebook page says. Li said only that the group in question had set up recently and that the posts were made after the law took effect late on June 30.

“They said they want to establish a Hong Kong republic, and that they will unreservedly fight for it,” he said. “They also said they want to unite all pro-independence groups in Hong Kong for this purpose.”

He warned anyone who thinks they can carry out such crimes online to think twice. Police have made a handful of other arrests under the new law, all of people taking part in protests and chanting slogans or waving flags deemed to violate the law.

China promised Hong Kong would have its own governing and legal systems under a “one country, two systems” principle until 2047, or 50 years after Britain handed back its former colony in 1997. China, in justifying the new law, says issues such as separatism are a national security concern and, as such, fall under its purview.

The latest arrests came one day after a leading figure in Hong Kong’s political opposition was fired from his university post. Hong Kong University’s council voted 18-2 to oust Benny Tai from his position as an associate law professor, local media reported.

Tai has been out on bail since being sentenced to 16 months in prison in April 2019 as one of nine leaders put on trial for their part in 2014 protests for greater democracy known as the Umbrella Movement.

In a posting Wednesday on his Facebook account, Tai said he intended to continue writing and lecturing on legal issues and asked for public support. “If we continue in our persistence, we will definitely see the revival of the rule of law in Hong Kong one day," Tai wrote.

While the 2014 movement failed in its bid to expand democracy, protests returned last year over a legislative proposal that would have allowed criminal suspects to be extradited to face trial in mainland China.

Although the legislation was eventually shelved, protester demands expanded to include calls for democratic change and an investigation into alleged police abuses. They grew increasingly violent in the second half of the year.

In a statement issued after the vote to remove Tai, the Chinese government’s liaison office in Hong Kong said it was “a punishment for evil doing.”

Associated Press writers Ken Moritsugu in Beijing and Sylvia Hui in London contributed to this report.

Belarus says Russians plotted attacks; Kremlin rolls eyes

July 31, 2020

MINSK, Belarus (AP) — Belarusian authorities on Thursday accused more than 30 detained Russians of plotting terror attacks amid a presidential election campaign, allegations that Russian officials angrily rejected.

The grave accusations mark an unprecedented spike in tensions between Russia and Belarus, which are neighbors and traditionally allies. Independent observers and opposition supporters in Belarus have dismissed the alleged terror plot as a campaign stunt by President Alexander Lukashenko, the authoritarian leader who is seeking a sixth term in next month's election.

The Belarusian State Security Committee, still known by its Soviet-era name KGB, said it detained 32 people from private Russian military firm Wagner early Wednesday at a sanitarium outside the capital of Minsk. Another person was detained in the country’s south.

Security Council Secretary Andrei Ravkov said Thursday that the Russians are facing a criminal probe on charges of plotting terror attacks in Belarus. He claimed that Belarusian authorities were searching for another 200 Russian “militants” believed to be in the ex-Soviet nation.

The Kremlin responded by urging Belarus to explain its action and to fully respect the detainees' rights. “There is no information about any wrongdoing of the Russians that may have caused the detention.," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. He shrugged off the allegations of the Russians' involvement in efforts to destabilize Belarus as “nothing but innuendo.”

After being summoned by the Belarusian Foreign Ministry, Russian Ambassador Dmitry Mezentsev also dismissed the accusations as unfounded. He said the Russians were en route to an unspecified country and checked into the sanitarium near Minsk after they missed a connecting flight at the capital's airport.

Mezentsev demanded immediate consular access to the detainees and urged Belarusian authorities to show their evidence against the Russians. The Wagner company is linked to Yevgeny Prigozhin, a Russian businessman who was indicted in the United States for meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The firm has allegedly deployed hundreds of military contractors to eastern Ukraine, Syria and Libya.

Many observers have pointed out that Belarus long has provided a transit corridor for sensitive Russian operations abroad. Lukashenko is campaigning to remain in office amid an upsurge in opposition protests fueled by public fatigue with his iron-fisted rule and a painful economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. Some observers see the detention of the Russians as an attempt by the president to mobilize public support in the Aug. 9 election.

“Amid a sharp drop in his popularity, Lukashenko has to turn to theatrical gestures to scare everyone and to try to stem the wave of protests,” Alexander Klaskovsky, an independent political analyst based in Minsk, said.

Throughout his 26-year rule, Lukashenko has relied on cheap Russian energy and loans to keep his nation's Soviet-style economy afloat. Belarus and Russia have a union deal envisaging close political, economic and military ties, but Moscow has recently cut some of the subsidies, arguing that Belarus must accept closer integration to receive energy resources at a discount.

The Belarusian leader has bristled at Russian demands and accused the Kremlin of harboring plans to deprive Belarus of its post-Soviet independence. “The new scandals help remind the Kremlin that it needs to pay for loyalty,” Klaskovsky said.

Belarus’ Investigative Committee said Thursday it was also investigating whether the detained Russians could have been involved in preparations for staging “mass riots” as part of a criminal probe against a jailed opposition blogger, Sergei Tikhanovsky. He has been in custody since May on charges of attacking a police officer, which he rejected as a provocation

Tikhanovsky’s wife, Svetlana, who is challenging Lukashenko in the election, dismissed the new accusations against her husband as “absolutely unlawful.” Election officials rejected attempts by two other potential presidential challengers to register for the race.

Over 20,000 Tikhanovskaya's supporters gathered Thursday at her rally in Minsk, the biggest since the start of the campaign. Many participants dismissed the official claims of a Russian subversion plot as a sham.

“We are worried about the lack of money to buy food and medicines, not some mythical enemies and plots,” retiree Nikolai Ostapchuk, 72, said. “No one believes in these thriller stories about Russian militants, which are intended to switch our attention, scare us and keep us at home," said 43-year-old driver Dmitry Furkovsky.

Daria Litvinova and Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow contributed to this report.

Belarus detains 33 Russian contractors ahead of election

July 29, 2020

MINSK, Belarus (AP) — The authoritarian leader of Belarus accused Russia of harboring “dirty intentions” Wednesday after his national intelligence agency detained more than 30 Russian private military contractors ahead of Belarus' presidential election.

President Alexander Lukashenko, who is seeking a sixth term in the Aug. 9 election, has repeatedly accused Russia of trying to force Belarus to abandon its post-Soviet independence. Throughout his 26 years of iron-fisted rule, Lukashenko has relied on subsidies and political support from Moscow but fiercely resisted Russia's efforts to gain control over Belarus' economic assets.

The arrest of dozens of Russians accused of planning to destabilize Belarus amid election campaigning pushes political tensions between the countries to a new high. Some observers see the move as a campaign stunt by the 65-year-old president.

State news agency BelTA said a SWAT team from the Belarusian State Security Committee, still known by its Soviet-era name KGB, detained 32 people from private Russian military firm Wagner overnight at a sanitarium outside the capital of Minsk.

Another person was detained in the country's south, reported BelTA, which published a list of the detained Russians. Yulia Goncharova, the spokeswoman for Belarus’ top investigative agency, the Investigative Committee, confirmed the detentions but refrained from further comment.

Belarusian state television broadcast footage of the SWAT officers putting the handcuffed Russians wearing only shorts face down in their rooms. The Russian Embassy in Belarus had no immediate comment, saying it hadn’t received official information about the detentions.

In televised remarks from a Security Council meeting, Belarusian KGB Chairman Valery Vakulchik reported to Lukashenko that the detainees were Wagner members. The Belarusian president then chastised Russia for trying to cover up its “dirty intentions” and instructed his officials to ask Russia for an official explanation.

“It’s necessary to immediately ask the relevant Russian structures to explain what’s going on,” Lukashenko said. The Wagner company, linked to Yevgeny Prigozhin, a Russian businessman who was indicted in the United States for meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, has allegedly deployed hundreds of military contractors to eastern Ukraine, Syria and Libya.

Security Council secretary Andrei Ravkov noted that there were snipers and explosives experts among the detainees, and he said in view of that Belarusian authorities would strengthen security at campaign events. Controls on the border with Russia will also be tightened, he said.

Ravkov said that 14 of the detainees had fought on the side of Russia-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine. Belarus' Foreign Ministry will invite the Ukrainian ambassador to discuss the issue, he said. BelTA said that Belarusian law enforcement agencies were acting on a tip that over 200 militants had arrived in Belarus on a mission to destabilize the country during the election campaign.

Alexander Alesin, an independent military expert based in Minsk, said that Belarus long has provided a transit corridor for sensitive Russian operations abroad. “The Russians have used Belarus to deploy special troops to other countries for many years,” Alesin said. “The Belarusian security agencies knew all about it and until recently they offered help and assistance to the Russians.”

Alesin asserted that the detentions appear to be part of Lukashenko's efforts to mobilize support before the vote. “The authorities are using Wagner members to scare people before the vote by inventing a thriller about Russian militants,” Alesin argued. “The footage of the detentions looks silly: If the 33 Wagner people were indeed planning to stage riots they wouldn’t have worn combat fatigues and T-shirts with the word ”Russia” and stayed all in one place.”

He added that the Belarusian leader may also have wanted to vent his anger with the Kremlin: "With the detentions, Lukashenko also wants to show Russia its place as relations with the Kremlin have worsened after Russia sharply cut its subsidies.”

The president is expected to easily win reelection on Aug. 9 despite a wave of opposition protests fueled by public fatigue with his rule and a painful economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. The World Bank has forecast that the Belarusian economy will shrink by at least 4% this year, the largest decline in a quarter-century.

Belarusian television reported that Belarus-born Russian political consultant Vitaly Shklyarov was also detained Wednesday. It charged that Shklyarov was helping to mobilize opposition supporters. In the past, Shklyarov worked as a political consultant in the United States and Russia.

Lukashenko, a former state farm director, has led Belarus since he became the the ex-Soviet nation's first president in July 1994. During that time, he has cracked down on dissent and free media in the country of 9.5 million people and extended his rule through elections that the West criticized as rigged.

Belarus election officials have barred the president’s two main challengers from appearing on the ballot. One of the challengers, Viktor Babariko, the former head of a major Russia-controlled bank, has been jailed on money laundering and tax evasion charges.

Another, Valery Tsepkalo, a former ambassador to the United States and the founder of a thriving high-tech development park, was denied registration after authorities invalidated some of the signatures he had collected to qualify.

Tsepkalo fled to Russia with his children after receiving a warning that his arrest was imminent and the authorities were planning to strip him of his parental rights and take his children away. Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the wife of jailed opposition blogger Sergei Tikhanovsky, is the only opposition candidate to have been allowed on the ballot.

Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow contributed to this report.

British-Australian academic moved to notorious Iran prison

July 29, 2020

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A British-Australian academic serving a 10-year sentence for espionage in Iran has been moved to a notorious prison where concerns for her well-being have escalated, the Australian government confirmed Wednesday.

Kylie Moore-Gilbert was a Melbourne University lecturer on Middle Eastern studies when she was sent to Tehran’s Evin Prison in September 2018. She had been arrested at Tehran airport while trying to leave the country after attending an academic conference.

Iran told Australia that Moore-Gilbert had been recently moved to Qarchak Prison east of Tehran, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in a statement. Australian envoys were “urgently seeking further consular access to her at this new location,” the government statement said.

“We hold Iran responsible for Dr. Moore-Gilbert’s safety and well-being,” it said. The Center for Human Rights in Iran, a U.S.-based organization, said Moore-Gilbert was being held with violent criminals in harsh conditions.

“Complete contempt for the law is being compounded by inexplicable cruelty towards Kylie Moore-Gilbert,” the center’s executive director, Hadi Ghaemi, said in a statement. Reza Khandan, husband of human rights lawyer and Evin Prison inmate Nasrin Sotoudeh, posted on social media this week that Moore-Gilbert had been transferred “as a form of punishment.”

Australia describes Moore-Gilbert’s case as one of its highest priorities. The Australian ambassador recently visited her in the Tehran prison and she had telephone contact with family and the embassy, the government statement said.

Moore-Gilbert has gone on hunger strikes and pleaded for the Australian government to do more to free her during almost two years in custody. She wrote to Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison last year that she has been “subjected to grievous violations of my legal and human rights, including psychological torture and spending prolonged periods of time in solitary confinement.”

Iran fires missile at mock aircraft carrier amid US tensions

July 28, 2020

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard fired a missile from a helicopter targeting a replica aircraft carrier in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, state television reported on Tuesday, an exercise aimed at threatening the U.S. amid tensions between Tehran and Washington.

The drill, in a waterway through which 20% of all traded oil passes, underlines the lingering threat of military conflict between Iran and the U.S. after last summer saw a series of incidents targeting oil tankers in the region. In January, a U.S. drone strike killed a top Iranian general in Baghdad and Tehran responded by firing ballistic missiles targeting American forces in Iraq.

While the coronavirus pandemic has engulfed both Iran and the U.S. for months, there have been increasing signs of a confrontation as America argues to extend a yearslong U.N. weapons embargo on Tehran that is due to expire in October. A recent incident over Syria involving an American jet fighter approaching an Iranian passenger plane also has renewed tensions.

Iranian commandos fast-roped down from a helicopter onto the replica in the footage aired Tuesday from the exercise called “Great Prophet 14." Other footage showed fast boats encircling the mock-up, kicking up white waves in their wake.

Iranian troops also fired anti-aircraft batteries at a drone target in the exercise from a location that state television described as being near the port city of Bandar Abbas. Troops also fired missiles launched from trucks on land and fast boats at sea, as well as shoulder-fired missiles.

The Guard will use “long-range ballistic missiles with the ability to hit far-reaching aggressor floating targets” during the drill, said Abbas Nilforoushan, the Guard's deputy commander for operations, according to Guard website sepahnews.com. That suggests the drill could see a repeat of what happened in 2015, when the Guard mock-sunk a replica.

It wasn't immediately clear if all the footage was from Tuesday, as one overhead surveillance image that appeared to be shot by a drone bore Monday's date. “Our policies to protect the vital interests of the dear nation of Iran are defensive, in the sense that we will not invade any country from the beginning, but we are completely aggressive in tactics and operations," Gen. Hossein Salami, the head of the Guard, was quoted as saying. “What was shown today at this exercise at the level of aerospace and naval forces was all offensive.”

State TV footage also showed Guard scuba forces underwater, followed by a cutaway to a blast hole just above the waterline on the replica carrier. That appeared to be a not-so-subtle reminder of U.S. accusations last year that Iran planted limpet mines on passing oil tankers near the strait, which exploded on the vessels in the same area. Iran has repeatedly denied the actions, though footage captured by the American military showed Guard members remove an unexploded mine from one vessel.

The replica used in the drill resembles the Nimitz-class carriers that the U.S. Navy routinely sails into the Persian Gulf from the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the waterway. The USS Nimitz, the namesake of the class, just entered Mideast waters late last week from the Indian Ocean, likely to replace the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in the Arabian Sea.

It remains unclear when or if the Nimitz will pass through the Strait of Hormuz or not during its time in the Mideast. The USS Abraham Lincoln, deployed last year as tensions initially spiked, spent months in the Arabian Sea before heading through the strait. The Eisenhower came through the strait early last week.

To Iran, which shares the strait with Oman, the American naval presence is akin to Iranian forces sailing into the Gulf of Mexico near the coast of Florida. But the U.S. Navy stresses the strait is an international waterway crucial to global shipping and energy supplies. Even as America now relies less on Mideast oil, a major disruption in the region could see prices rapidly rise.

The U.S. Navy's Bahrain-based 5th Fleet did not immediately respond to a request for comment. However, a spokeswoman said on Monday the Navy remains “confident in our naval forces’ ability to defend themselves against any maritime threat” after satellite photos showed the fake carrier being moved into place by a tugboat.

“We cannot speak to what Iran hopes to gain by building this mockup, or what tactical value they would hope to gain by using such a mock-up in a training or exercise scenario,” Cmdr. Rebecca Rebarich told The Associated Press then. “We do not seek conflict, but remain ready to defend U.S. forces and interests from maritime threats in the region.”

Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press journalist Mohammad Nasiri in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.

Turkish parliament approves social media law with new powers

July 29, 2020

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkey’s parliament approved a law early Wednesday that gives authorities greater power to regulate social media despite concerns of growing censorship. The law requires major social media companies such as Facebook and Twitter to keep representative offices in Turkey to deal with complaints against content on their platforms.

The government says the legislation was needed to combat cybercrime and protect users. Speaking in parliament Wednesday morning, ruling party lawmaker Rumeysa Kadak said it would be used to remove posts that contain cyberbullying and insults against women.

Opposition lawmakers said the law would further limit freedom of expression in a country where the media is already under tight government control and dozens of journalists are in jail. They called the bill the “censorship law.”

If a social media company refuses to designate an official representative, the legislation mandates steep fines, advertising bans and bandwidth reductions. With a court ruling, bandwidth would be halved, and then cut further. Bandwidth reductions mean social media networks would be too slow to use.

The representative will be be tasked with responding to individual requests to take down content violating privacy and personal rights within 48 hours or to provide grounds for rejection. The company would be held liable for damages if the content is not removed or blocked within 24 hours.

Most alarmingly, the nine-article legislation also would require social media providers to store user data in Turkey. Hundreds of people have been investigated and some arrested over social media posts on the COVID-19 pandemic, opposition to Turkish military offensives abroad or insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other officials.

Erdogan has demanded the law, vowing to “control social media platforms” and eradicate immorality. Cyber-rights activist and academic Yaman Akdeniz tweeted: "A new and dark period is starting in Turkey” with the new law. He argued the law would be used to remove content critical of the government rather than to protect users.

Rights groups and the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights came out against the bill Tuesday ahead of the vote, with Amnesty International calling it “draconian.” “If passed, these amendments would significantly increase the government’s powers to censor online content and prosecute social media users. This is a clear violation of the right to freedom of expression online and contravenes international human rights law and standards," Amnesty International's Andrew Gardner said.

Turkey leads the world in removal requests to Twitter, with more than 6,000 demands in the first half of 2019. More than 408,000 websites are blocked in Turkey, according to The Freedom of Expression Association.

Online encyclopedia Wikipedia was blocked for nearly three years before Turkey’s top court ruled that the ban violated the right to freedom of expression. 54 million people in the country of 83 million are active social media users.

A July survey by polling company Metropoll showed 49.6% of respondents did not support a law that could limit, shut down or fine social media companies over content. Some 40.8% said they would support it.

Social media companies did not immediately comment. The law passed after 16 hours of tense deliberations in parliament, where Erdogan’s ruling party and its nationalist ally hold the majority of seats. It will be published in the Official Gazette after Erdogan approves it and will come into effect on Oct. 1.

German economy plunged 10% during 2nd quarter amid pandemic

July 30, 2020

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Germany’s economy, Europe's largest, took a massive hit during the pandemic shutdowns, shrinking by 10.1% percent during the April-June period from the previous quarter as exports and business investment collapsed.

It was the biggest drop since quarterly growth figures began being compiled in 1970, the official statistics agency said Thursday. The plunge far exceeded the previous worst-ever recorded performance, a fall of 4.7% in the first quarter of 2009 during the global financial crisis.

Tough pandemic restrictions shut down everything from taverns to auto dealerships. The country has cautiously reopened and the economy has started bouncing back but economists say it is far from the pre-pandemic level and won't reach break even until 2022 at the earliest.

Economist Carsten Brzeski at the bank ING Germany said the recovery would be “a long ride.” “This picture shows the deepest but also the shortest recession ever,” Brzeski said. “All monthly indicators since May have already pointed to a strong rebound of economic activity in the course of what has been the worst quarterly performance ever.”

The government has enacted a multibillion-euro stimulus package of emergency loans, credit guarantees and tax breaks to cushion the impact. The German data release comes ahead of expected figures for Italy, France and the 19-country eurozone as a whole on Friday. Those numbers are likewise expected to be dismal, although they are backward-looking and don't account for the rebound in activity after many of the toughest restrictions were lifted.

So far, government programs to help keep workers on payrolls across the currency union have cushioned the impact for many families. That has kept unemployment in check, one factor that could help support the rebound. The jobless rate inched up to 7.8% in June from 7.7% in May, according to a separate report published Thursday.

State statistics agency Destatis said that exports, imports, consumer spending and investment in equipment had “massively collapsed” during the second quarter. Economist Stephan Kooths at the Institute for the World Economy in Kiel, Germany, said that consumer spending suffered not because of a lack of purchasing power but simply because the coronavirus measures reduced the chance to spend - to the tune of 130 billion euros.

Sarajevo's landmark hotel faces hard times amid pandemic

July 30, 2020

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — The bright yellow Hotel Holiday in downtown Sarajevo has seen good times and bad times in its 37-year history. Mostly, it has been a symbol of survival in the once-turbulent Bosnian capital.

Now the boxy landmark is in danger once again, with the coronavirus pandemic leaving it with few guests. Bosnia, like the rest of the Balkans, has been hit hard by the virus. Cases have been rising in Bosnia since mid-May, when a strict lockdown was lifted and many people seemed to start disregarding social distancing rules and ditching masks.

The country of 3.5 million has reported nearly 10,500 cases and 294 deaths, many since the restrictions were eased. Amid the pandemic, there are hardly any tourists or business travelers visiting the capital, leaving the hotel with many empty rooms.

It originally opened as part of the Holiday Inn hotel chain and was luxurious accommodation for royalty, movie stars and other dignitaries who came to the 1984 Winter Olympics. Less than a decade later, it was ground zero for the bloody siege of Sarajevo in the 1990s and an uneasy shelter for the many foreign journalists who arrived to cover the conflict.

“The hotel was working all the time through the war,” said general manager Zahid Bukva, who has been employed there since it opened in 1983. “There was so much shelling and sniping aimed at our hotel, it was devastating,” he said. “There wasn’t a single window left intact here. But even then, we fought and we provided the service to these foreign journalists.”

The hotel, controversial from the start because of its bright color and Lego-like structure, was often targeted by Serbs in the nearby hills during their three-year siege of the capital that left thousands dead and injured in the capital.

It survived several direct hits from grenades and shells, as well as constant sniper fire that prompted journalists and staff to use side doors instead of the main lobby entrance. Just before the start of the war in 1992, former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic — now a convicted war criminal — used the hotel as his headquarters, surrounded by armed men wearing masks to hide their identities.

They were believed to be Serbian security officers who fired their sniper rifles from the hotel at peaceful protesters in April 1992 — the incident believed to have triggered the start of the civil war that left more than 100,000 dead and millions homeless.

As journalists rushed to Sarajevo to cover the escalating tensions, the Holiday Inn became the place to be. At the end of a dangerous day, they often swapped their front-line experiences and stories in a ground-floor restaurant.

“This hotel became something as a front line for a period,” said Kenneth Morrison, a history professor at De Montfort University in Leicester, England, who wrote a book about it. “It was used exclusively by journalists, aid workers and some diplomats,” he said. “The courage and resourcefulness of the staff during those difficult times is an incredible story in itself.”

He said the hotel “faced many challenges in its relatively short history.” "It's only 37 years old, but in many ways, the challenges it’s facing now are far more significant,” Morrison said of the pandemic.

“One can only hope that this building, which survived all that’s been thrown at it, can survive this latest crisis,” he said. Hotel director Hajro Rovcanin believes it will. “The hotel survived through a lot, and I think that we will overcome this corona crisis,” he said.

Associated Press writer Dusan Stojanovic in Belgrade, Serbia, contributed.

A virus cluster in France splits generations, raises fears

July 30, 2020

PARIS (AP) — As the sun went down, their partying got into full flow, with an unwanted guest: the coronavirus. An outbreak among 18- to 25-year-olds at a seaside resort on the Brittany coast is crystallizing fears that the virus is flaring again in France, on the back of vacationers throwing COVID-19 caution to the summer winds.

With 72 infections by Wednesday — mostly among that age group — uncovered in a week of furious contact tracing, the cluster on the Quiberon peninsula was thought to have originated with a supermarket summer worker who partied with others at a nightspot.

It is becoming a textbook case of the virus pitting generations against each other. The government's top regional official, a former soldier and intelligence officer in his 50s, hasn't minced his words in decrying the “irresponsibility of young people who are vacationing or living here, gathering in large numbers for festivities at night, ignoring the danger.”

The official, Patrice Faure, prefect of Brittany's Morbihan region, personally served a two-month closure order on a Quiberon discotheque, the Hacienda Cafe. Among the nightspots where now-infected people congregated, it skirted a national coronavirus ban on nightclubbing by converting itself into a late-night watering hole, blocking off its dance floor with tables and bar stools.

The owners told the regional newspaper Ouest-France that they urged patrons to wear masks but also noted: “They're young, on holiday or doing summer jobs, and they'd been drinking. They didn't listen.”

Although authorities insist the outbreak is under control, the peninsula that used to be a sardine-fishing hub has become a flashpoint for fears that France is going backward in the epidemic that has infected more than 185,000 and killed at least 30,200 in the country. Infection rates are creeping up and authorities warn that people are disregarding pleas to use common sense as millions revel in the country's July-August break.

In Paris, nurse Damien Vaillant-Foulquier worries that a second wave of infections will derail the plans that he and his wife, also a nurse, have made to join the exodus in mid-August. His hospital, which managed to empty its ICU wards after weathering the initial wave, already is seeing new COVID-19 patients and asking trainee nurses if they'll be around later in the summer to work, he said.

“At the hospital, we sense the arrival of the second wave," he said. “I’m depressed because it’s my impression that people don’t see the danger and have forgotten why we were locked-down at home.” Cycling recently through the French capital, “I saw that the bars on the big boulevards had been turned into nightspots, full inside and outside, everyone was dancing, no masks, nothing, absolutely no respect for social distancing,” Vaillant-Foulquier said.

“The young are accused a lot of not being responsible, but it's not just the young,” he said. Romain Arnal, a 20-year-old student, is among those who have been letting their hair — and their guard — down in Quiberon. He vacations there every year, hooking up with a holiday sweetheart whom he first met in the resort three summers ago.

“When we’re in smaller groups, with friends, we don’t really pay attention, even if it’s people we’ve just met. We invite each other over, with no masks on, obviously," he said. Worried by the infection spike, Arnal says he has gone to a makeshift testing station set up in Quiberon to contain the outbreak, but has been foiled by the long lines. Authorities have urged that everyone get tested, especially the Hacienda's partygoers. That's a mammoth task on the peninsula, where the population swells from 5,000 to 60,000 in the summer.

Quiberon has made mask-wearing mandatory on some of its busiest streets, joining other vacation towns in going further than the national requirement for masks in all indoor public spaces. And it slapped nighttime curfews on beaches and public parks, concerned that young people without symptoms could spread the coronavirus to the less-healthy.

“I hope, or at least I imagine, that they have no desire to spread the virus to their parents, their grandparents, their neighbors, uncles and aunts," said Faure, the prefect. “It's extremely inopportune to party today like in 2019.”

Fishing guide Alexandre Lesage, 39, says he feels for the generation he sees trying to enjoy itself at the same spots and beaches where he spent his youth, free of the uncertain future now facing young people confronting a job market in coronavirus turmoil.

“They’re being treated like pest-carriers, as if they're totally irresponsible, when in fact they are just young at heart,” he said. “I would not like to be in their shoes.”

Leicester reported from Le Pecq, France.

'Second wave' virus fears strike blow to tourism industry

July 28, 2020

LONDON (AP) — Concerns over a “second wave” of coronavirus infections brought on by returning vacationers are wreaking havoc on Europe's tourism industry, particularly in Spain, following Britain's effective ban on travel to the country.

In a move indicative of the continent’s piecemeal approach to the virus, London has recommended against all but essential travel to the whole of Spain following an upswing in new infections there. And all travelers arriving in Britain from Spain will have to undergo a 14-day quarantine.

“I’m afraid you are starting to see in some places the signs of a second wave of the pandemic,” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Tuesday in defending his government’s new travel advice. “I’m afraid if we do see signs of a second wave in other countries, it is really our job, our duty, to act swiftly and decisively,” he added.

The move not only dashed the hopes of many British holidaymakers for a getaway this summer, but also fanned renewed uncertainty within Europe’s key tourism industry over how to plan ahead amid authorities’ responses to new COVID-19 outbreaks.

Johnson indicated that there could be further changes to the government's travel advice for other holiday destinations in Europe. Germany also tightened its travel advice for Spain, advising against travel to the northeastern regions of Catalonia, Aragon, and Navarra. Norway has ordered a 10-day quarantine for people returning from the entire Iberian peninsula, and France urged its citizens not to visit Catalonia.

The head of Germany’s national disease control center also warned of “really, really worrying" developments over the last two weeks amid a resurgence of virus outbreaks. Robert Koch Institute chief Lothar Wieler pointed to “a lot of small outbreaks in various places at the same time” that are becoming more frequent.

Wieler urged Germans not to let their guard down and to stick to social distancing, hygiene and mask-wearing rules that “must never be questioned,” after new studies showed that people have become more complacent about COVID-19.

“We don’t know if this is the beginning of a second wave, but of course it could be. It would begin with rising figures," Wieler said. "If we all keep to these rules, I am still optimistic that we can prevent this.”

Britain's new travel advice prompted holiday companies TUI UK and Jet2 to suspend flights to Spain, traditionally the most popular summer destination for British vacationers. “The U.K. government must work closely with the travel industry, as this level of uncertainty and confusion is damaging for business and disappointing for those looking forward to a well-deserved break,” TUI UK said.

The U.K. has the highest official coronavirus death toll in Europe, with nearly 46,000 deaths. One of the reasons cited for that is that many travelers brought the virus back during the February school break after skiing trips in France, Italy and Spain.

Professor Keith Neal, an epidemiologist at the University of Nottingham, said it makes sense to advise against travel to Spain during the summer season. “Some people have criticized the lack of notice, but with cases rising any delay would only increase cases in the U.K,” he added.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called the new recommendation “a mistake,” saying that the upsurge in new COVID-19 cases is only focused in the regions of Catalonia and Aragon, and is much less severe than the number of cases reported in the U.K.

Sanchez spoke as figures were released showing that his country lost more than a million jobs in the second quarter of this year. Spain’s official statistics agency INE said that most were lost in the service sector, with the worst-hit areas being Catalonia, Andalusia and Madrid.

Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez Ayala tried to strike a conciliatory tone, saying that Madrid is trying to get the British government to concentrate on the scientific data, since the outbreaks are contained in specific areas within Spain, while coronavirus infection rates on the country’s vacation islands are much lower than in the U.K.

Spain is still in talks with London, “trying to find a solution which meets epidemiological criteria,” Ayala said during an official visit to Greece Tuesday. Meanwhile, Madrid's regional government made the use of face masks mandatory in all public areas and limited the number of people that can gather in one place, part of a drive to curb new coronavirus outbreaks.

Regional government head Isabel Díaz Ayuso said no more than 10 people can be present at private gatherings, while nightlife venues must close their doors at 1 a.m. — early by Spanish standards. Díaz Ayuso said an information campaign will focus on young people, who are largely blamed for spreading the coronavirus through their social life. She said young people “have it in their hands to reverse the trend.”

Effective Tuesday, anyone caught drinking a beer in the street in Barcelona or elsewhere in the Catalonia region could be fined a maximum of 15,000 euros ($17,600). The measure targets street parties mostly frequented by young people.

In another tourism-reliant country, Greece, the government said Tuesday cruise ship travel would be allowed to restart on Aug. 1 from six designated ports. But at the same time, authorities said face masks would be made compulsory for all enclosed retail outlets including hair and beauty salons in a bid to curb a recent increase in COVID-19 cases.

At the eastern end of the Mediterranean, Lebanon ordered a partial lockdown when new coronavirus cases reached the triple digits in recent days, after the country reopened its sole international airport. Consecutive five-day lockdown periods that will shut indoor pools, pubs, malls, banks and nightclubs will start on Thursday separated by a two-day “break” in between.

Lebanon registered 141 new COVID-19 cases and three more deaths on Tuesday. That brought the country's total cases to 4,023, with 54 deaths.

Hadjicostis reported from Nicosia, Cyprus, and Hatton from Lisbon, Portugal. Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed.

Red panda born in Berlin as part of global breeding program

July 30, 2020

BERLIN (AP) — A rare red panda has been born at a Berlin zoo, only a few months after its parents were brought to the German capital from India, the zoo said in a statement Thursday. The little cub was first discovered on June 6 in its mother's cave at the Tierpark Zoo and it is now the size of a guinea pig. The animal's gender is not yet known and it has not yet been named. It is the 10th red panda to be raised in Berlin as part of a international breeding program to help protect the endangered animals.

The red panda is originally a native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. The cub's parents, mother Shine, 6, and father Joel, 5, who are originally from the Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park in Darjeeling, seem to feel comfortable in their new surroundings, the zoo said.

“I’m delighted that the two have settled in so well," Zoo Director Andreas Knieriem said. "And with that cute offspring we can now raise the awareness of even more people for the protection of this highly endangered species.”

The red panda will likely be shown to zoo visitors in September when it is expected to leave its mother's cave and start exploring the red panda compound's outdoor facilities.

Portland protesters gassed after setting fire at courthouse

July 20, 2020

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Protesters outside Portland's U.S. courthouse set a fire in the building's entryway early Monday in yet another night of conflict with federal agents who repeatedly tear gassed the demonstrators to drive them away, officials said.

Authorities over the weekend erected large fences around the building in an effort to keep away the protesters who have been on Portland's streets daily since the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis nearly two months ago.

But video posted online showed protesters taking down the fencing and a statement from Portland's city police department described the protesters' tactics as they repeatedly headed toward the courthouse and were repelled by federal agents who emerged from inside.

Hundreds of protesters were at the scene Sunday night into early Monday morning and at one point "dozens of people with shields, helmets, gas masks, umbrellas, bats, and hockey sticks approached the doors” of the courthouse until federal officers came out and dispersed them, the Portland police statement said.

The protesters later lit a fire at about 1:30 a.m. Monday within the portico of the courthouse, said Portland police, who stressed that their officers were not involved in any crowd control measures, did not fire tear gas and “were not present during any of the activity described.”

Other people added wood and debris to the fire to make it larger and federal agents came out of the courthouse, "dispersed the crowd and extinguished the fire," the statement said. The violence happened as local and state leaders expressed anger with the presence of the federal agents, saying that the city's protests had started to ease just as the federal agents started taking action on the streets of Portland.

Speaking on CNN’s ‘State of the Union,’ Democratic Mayor Ted Wheeler said federal officers “are not wanted here. We haven’t asked them here. In fact, we want them to leave.” Top leaders in the U.S. House said Sunday they were “alarmed” by the Trump administration’s tactics against protesters in Portland and other cities, including Washington, D.C. They've called on federal inspectors general investigate.

“This is a matter of utmost urgency,” wrote House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-New York, Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie G. Thompson, D-Mississippi, and Oversight and Reform Committee Chairwoman Carolyn B. Maloney, D-New York, in a letter to the inspectors general of Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security.

The Democratic lawmakers are seeking an investigation “into the use of federal law enforcement agencies by the Attorney General and the Acting Secretary of Homeland Security to suppress First Amendment protected activities in Washington, D.C., Portland, and other communities across the United States.”

President Donald Trump has decried the demonstrations, and Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf labeled the protesters as “lawless anarchists” in a visit to the city last Thursday. “We are trying to help Portland, not hurt it,” Trump tweeted Sunday. “Their leadership has, for months, lost control of the anarchists and agitators. They are missing in action. We must protect Federal property, AND OUR PEOPLE. These were not merely protesters, these are the real deal!”

Late Saturday, Portland police said protesters broke into the building of the Portland Police Association labor union that represents officers. Dumpster fires were also set and fencing was moved and transformed into barricades, police said.

Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum sued Homeland Security and the Marshals Service in federal court late Friday, alleging that unidentified federal agents grabbed people from Portland’s streets “without warning or explanation, without a warrant, and without providing any way to determine who is directing this action.”

Rosenblum said she was seeking a temporary restraining order to “immediately stop federal authorities from unlawfully detaining Oregonians.” It was not immediately unclear whether anyone was arrested or detained during the protest that started Sunday night.

Oregon sues feds over Portland protests as unrest continues

July 19, 2020

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Oregon's attorney general is seeking an order to stop federal agents from arresting people in Portland as the city continues to be convulsed by nightly protests that have gone on for seven weeks and have now pitted local officials against the Trump administration.

Federal agents, some wearing camouflage and some wearing dark Homeland Security uniforms, used tear gas at least twice to break up crowds late Friday night, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported. Demonstrations against systemic racism and police brutality have happened every day in Oregon's largest city since Minneapolis police killed George Floyd on May 25. At 10 p.m. Saturday, several hundred peaceful demonstrators against police brutality rallied in front of downtown's Multnomah County Justice Center and the Edith Green-Wendell Wyatt Federal Building, which has a newly built fence around it.

President Donald Trump has decried the disorder, and Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf blasted the protesters as “lawless anarchists” in a visit to the city. Before the aggressive language and action from federal officials, the unrest had frustrated Mayor Ted Wheeler and other local authorities, who had said a small cadre of violent activists were drowning out the message of peaceful protesters in the city. But Wheeler said the federal presence in the city is now exacerbating a tense situation and he has told them to depart.

“Keep your troops in your own buildings, or have them leave our city," Wheeler said Friday. Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum late Friday sued Homeland Security and the Marshals Service in federal court. The complaint says that unidentified federal agents have grabbed people off Portland’s streets “without warning or explanation, without a warrant, and without providing any way to determine who is directing this action.”

Rosenblum said she was seeking a temporary restraining order to “immediately stop federal authorities from unlawfully detaining Oregonians.” “The current escalation of fear and violence in downtown Portland is being driven by federal law enforcement tactics that are entirely unnecessary,” Rosenblum said in a statement.

The administration has enlisted federal agents, including the U.S. Marshals Special Operations Group and an elite U.S. Customs and Border Protection team based on the U.S.-Mexico border, to protect federal property.

But Oregon Public Broadcasting reported this week that some agents had been driving around in unmarked vans and snatching protesters from streets not near federal property, without identifying themselves.

Tensions also escalated after an officer with the Marshals Service fired a less-lethal round at a protester’s head on July 11, critically injuring him. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Oregon, issued a joint statement Saturday denouncing the Trump administration's actions.

“We live in a democracy, not a banana republic. We will not tolerate the use of Oregonians, Washingtonians –- or any other Americans -– as props in President Trump’s political games. The House is committed to moving swiftly to curb these egregious abuses of power immediately,” they said.

On Friday night, hundreds of people gathered for a vigil outside the downtown Justice Center, which is sandwiched between two federal buildings, including a courthouse, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported. Across the street, dozens of other protesters entered two recently closed city parks after dismantling chain-link fencing that blocked access.

Federal agents emerged from an office building next door and used impact munitions, stun grenades and tear gas to clear the area, the news organization reported. It said its journalists did not observe any incident that might have prompted the use of the weapons.

Federal officers deployed tear gas again just before midnight after a few protesters placed dismantled fencing in front of plywood doors covering the entrance of the federal courthouse. Early Saturday, Portland police declared the gathering unlawful, saying protesters had piled fencing in front of the exits to the federal courthouse and the Multnomah County Justice Center and then shot off fireworks at the Justice Center.

Federal officers and local police then advanced simultaneously on the demonstrators to clear the streets, making arrests as protesters threw bottles and pieces of metal fence at police, the Portland Police Bureau said. Portland Police Chief Chuck Lovell told reporters Friday that his officers are in contact with the federal agents, but that neither controls the others’ actions.

The overnight action by Portland's police was condemned by a prominent member of the City Council. On Saturday Jo Ann Hardesty said local police “joined in the aggressive clampdown of peaceful protest.”

Hardesty, who said she was downtown speaking at the protest Friday night, slammed Wheeler, telling the mayor he needed to better control local law enforcement. Hardesty, who oversees the city's fire department and other first-responder agencies, said in an open letter to Wheeler if "you can’t control the police, give me the Portland Police Bureau.”

In a statement Saturday, Portland Police said as they responded to the overnight protests — which included people throwing projectiles at them — some federal agencies took action “under their own supervision and direction.” Portland Police said city officers arrested seven people, and one officer sustained a minor injury.

The statement said the city's police supports peaceful protests, and beginning Saturday night Department of Homeland Security police won't work in the Portland Police incident command center.