Oregon Gov. Says Federal Officers Will Begin Phased Withdrawal From Portland

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Federal officers deploy tear gas and crowd control munitions at demonstrators during a Black Lives Matter protest at the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse Tuesday in Portland, Ore.

Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP

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Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP

Live Updates: Protests For Racial Justice
Tear Gas Fired On Protesters Again During Overnight Protests In Portland

U.S. agents had also been deployed to Seattle to safeguard federal property there but have since been withdrawn, according to city and state officials.

Officials in both Oregon and in Washington state denounced the deployments and said their presence would ratchet up tensions with protesters.

In a joint statement Tuesday, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, both Democrats, said the mayor «received confirmation that the Department of Homeland Security’s Border Patrol Tactical Unit has demobilized and left.»

«This demobilization means Washingtonians no longer have to worry about the White House’s aim to provoke confrontation and undermine peaceful protests,» Inslee said.

«Those peacefully protesting have raised the public’s consciousness of the urgent need for racial justice, and I have no doubt they will continue to use their voices to call for action.»

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Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan speaks earlier this month at a news conference. Durkan and the governor of Washington state said U.S. officers sent to protect federal buildings in the city have since left.

Ted S. Warren/AP

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Ted S. Warren/AP

Politics
Attorney General Barr Tussles With Democrats In Tense Oversight Hearing

Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., the committee chairman, pushed back on Barr’s characterization of the protests.

«The protesters aren’t mobs — they’re mothers and veterans and mayors,» Nadler said. The chairman added that real leadership should involve deescalation; «instead you use pepper spray and truncheons on American citizens.»

The attorney general rejected that and cited numbers of police and federal officers who were injured while carrying out their duties.

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