(Washington) Federal agents sent to Portland by Washington will remain in the northwestern city of the United States until local police rid it of "anarchists and agitators," according to President Donald Trump.
France Media Agency
"Homeland Security [les forces fédérales] will not leave Portland until the local police complete the cleanup [de la ville] of anarchists and agitators! Mr. Trump tweeted late Friday night.
Federal agents were sent to Portland following numerous anti-racist demonstrations organized in this city, a presence which provoked strong hostility.
The authorities of Oregon and the administration of Donald Trump had agreed on Wednesday on a gradual withdrawal of these federal police officers from Thursday, provided that the local police force stabilize the situation around the Federal City Court and other official buildings targeted by the protests.
The agreement provided that the local police would ensure the maintenance of order outside the federal court, at the expense of a few federal agents whose usual mission is to secure the buildings themselves. themselves.
The Portland police began Thursday to evacuate areas of downtown bordering the court, to prepare for the withdrawal of the Feds.
Hundreds of demonstrators, some with makeshift shields, were still in the streets of the city center on the night from Friday to Saturday, in peace and without any federal agent being visible, noted an AFP journalist.
PHOTO ALISHA JUCEVIC, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
A demonstrator of 25 who did not give as his first name, Rudi, asked, "What does 'cleaning' mean? [...] Nothing is happening that requires cleaning up [...] no riot, no looting. Trump speaks only to excite his supporters ".
Earlier, Portland police had evacuated the parks and major roads in the center, anticipating the gradual withdrawal of federal forces.
Democratic Mayor of Portland Ted Wheeler said the evacuation was part of the deal between local officials and the government.
On Twitter, he thanked the peaceful protesters on Friday night for "taking back possession of a space that has been the scene of violence in order to share their powerful message of reform and justice."
"Police state" 
The death of George Floyd, black forty-something asphyxiated on 11 May in Minneapolis by a white policeman, sparked huge protests against racism and police violence across the United States.
Mobilization weakened considerably, but pockets of protest persisted, especially in Portland, which was clearly marked on the left.
PHOTO MARCIO JOSE SANCHEZ, ASSOCIATED PRESS
A protester was sprayed with pepper spray before being arrested on Wednesday.
In early July, the Trump administration sent federal intervention teams there, sometimes from customs or border police and wearing a whole military panoply, after weeks of demonstrations against racism and police violence.
Their deployment had the effect of hardening the movement in this city with a long history of protest, especially after videos were broadcast showing protesters being caught in the streets by federal agents and thrown into unmarked vehicles, and clashes took place every night near the federal court. It and other government buildings have been damaged (graffiti, broken windows).
For the Democrats, these interventions have a strong overtone of a "police state" and are a political security strategy to give Mr. Trump, struggling in the polls in the run-up to the presidential election in November, the image of a president attached to the maintenance of order.
Attorney General Bill Barr has defended the federal initiative against "violent rioters and anarchists [qui] supplanting legitimate protests" and denied any political motivation.
This week, Homeland Security Minister Chad Wolf warned that a total federal withdrawal would only be possible if the security situation improved "considerably".
Donald Trump attacked the authorities on Thursday. "The governor [démocrate de l'Oregon Kate Brown] and the mayor, we have been dealing with them, and we think they don't know what they are doing, because it shouldn't have lasted 60 days ", he had declared to the press.
