30 August 2020
Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf told ABC's "This Week" that "all options continue to be on the table" in terms of sending federal law enforcement into Portland to quell violent protests.
Why it matters: Tensions in Portland reached new heights after a person was killed on Saturday night during clashes between protesters and Trump supporters. Wolf could not share more details on the incident because the investigation is ongoing, but he called on local officials to allow federal law enforcement to step in.
Between the lines: Protesters in Portland repeatedly clashed with federal law enforcement officials earlier this summer, when the Department of Homeland Security deployed agents to protect the city's federal courthouse before beginning to phase them out in late July.
- On Friday, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler sent President Trump a letter rejecting his offer of federal assistance.
What he's saying: "I do understand that there were a number of counterprotests and countergroups in Portland overnight, and I think this points to a larger issue that we have seen in Portland for the last three months," Wolf said. "And that is local and state officials not allowing law enforcement to do their job and really to bring this violent activity night after night after night to a close."
- "So as you see that continue to unfold over the course of three months, you'll continue to see violent activity, and we've asked the governor, we've asked the mayor to step in. They don't have the resources."
- "The president has been very clear on this as you know. We will be happy to provide resources to bring this violence to an end. Violence that, again, across the ideological spectrum, left or right. The violence needs to end."
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.