WASHINGTON, DC — Acting Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Chad Wolf on Monday said the Department of Justice is actively investigating the organization of violent protests seen across the nation in recent months following the death of George Floyd.
Wolf, who appeared on Fox News Channel’s “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” said it was “absurd” to believe President Donald Trump and his administration are causing the ongoing civil unrest.
When Tucker Carlson mentioned Joe Biden said there will be more violence if President Trump is re-elected, Wolf dismissed it, saying:
“I would say that that is a delusional statement. The idea that the president, or this administration, or the Department of Homeland is somehow the reason or the cause behind this violence is just absurd.”
Today’s press conference made it clear: we are all less safe because Donald Trump has failed at his job.
We need a President who will stop violence — not incite it. pic.twitter.com/AhGNZCDQkr
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) September 1, 2020
Wolf also explained on the show how violence needs to be addressed immediately:
“The Department has been at this since early July, particularly in Portland, addressing some of this violent rioting and looting that was occurring in anarchists targeting a federal building in Portland.
“I think most reasonable Americans understand what’s going on out there, and really the cause of all this is local officials, state officials not taking this seriously enough from day one.
“When there’s violence in your community, you need to restore law and order right away. We’ve seen that — it will work.
“We’ve seen it in Kenosha for several days. It is working. Places like Portland and other places need to take that same advice.
“They need to bring that law and order back to their streets so that the residents of those cities can feel safe as they go about their business every day.”
I urge President Trump to join me in saying that while peaceful protest is an important right — violence is wrong. Period.
If he can’t say that, then he is unfit to be President. https://t.co/W4sjpF0Z3V
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) September 1, 2020
The acting secretary also noted that DHS is investigating the heads of the organizations and individuals funding the rioters moving across the country:
“It’s something I’ve talked to the AG personally about, and I know that they are working on it.
“Look, we’ve seen about 300 arrests across this country regarding civil unrest and protesting — violent protesting, I would say criminal protesting, criminal rioting.
“We have got about 300 arrests. About a third of those or a hundred of those arrests have been in Portland specifically.
If you’re in #PDX protesting, and haven’t done so already, put@NLG_Portland in your contacts.
Jail support for if you or someone you know is detained: 971-247-1072
Non Jail Support (also call after witnessing State violence): 833-680-1312https://t.co/dz5LNjXfXA pic.twitter.com/HhJvrugJxI
— Alycia Ramirez (@AlyciaRamirez3) August 30, 2020
“And I know the Department of Justice has charged about 74 or 75 individuals there in Portland with different federal crimes, and we’ll continue to see how those investigations are going.
Antifa calling for backup in Portland… from DC. These protests are organized pic.twitter.com/ns3mMWFwT0
— 🌟CouchPotatoSJW🌟 (@CouchPotatoSJW) August 30, 2020
“The Department of Justice is also targeting and investigating the head of these organizations, the individuals that are paying for these individuals to move across the country.
“What we know, Tucker, is that we have seen groups and individuals move from Portland to other parts of the country.”
Donald Trump looks at this violence and sees a political lifeline.
He failed to protect America, so now he’s trying to scare America. pic.twitter.com/BCoO4gS2zE
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) August 31, 2020
Wolf added:
“We had about 175 arrests in Kenosha, almost a hundred of them were from out of state. So, we know they’re moving around.
“We’ve seen them in DC, in Sacramento and elsewhere. They’re organized. We’ve seen similar tactics being used from Portland and other cities across the country as well.
The media is enraged that Trump’s visit forces them to show what Antifa/BLM radicals did. https://t.co/gVUDwn22mx
— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) September 1, 2020
So, we know that there’s organization, and I know the Department of Justice is also looking at that as well.”
The President claims people in the dark shadows who control the streets are really controlling Biden. He goes on to talk about a plane full of people wearing black uniforms but then says he can’t reveal anymore because it’s under investigation pic.twitter.com/AAk5GX0eWu
— Acyn Torabi (@Acyn) September 1, 2020
In an interview on Monday with Fox News’ Laura Ingraham, President Trump referenced a person who flew on a plane from a “certain city” who noted it was filled with “thugs” wearing black uniforms and carrying gear:
“This person was coming to the Republican National Convention and there were like seven people in the plane [with] this person, and then a lot of people were on the plane to do big damage. This is all happening.”
The president then mentioned that these people were ones “you’ve never heard of, people in the dark shadows.”
Trump suggested these mystery people may be facilitating the looting and violence in U.S. cities and are funded by wealthy benefactors:
“The money is coming from some very stupid rich people [who] have no idea that if their thing ever succeeded…they will be thrown to the wolves like you’ve never seen before.”
Wolf said investigations are moving as quickly as they can and that President Trump is committed to holding individuals accountable:
“The Department of Homeland Security, we’re doing our role. We’re making sure that the investigations that we’re involved in — we’re getting that information over to the Department of Justice to the FBI, to those criminal investigators that are doing their job.
“But again, this administration, this president is committed to holding individuals accountable.
“I think, once folks start to realize that if you want to riot, you want to loot, you want to do some of these other criminal acts that we see around this country, there’s going to be consequences for that. And we’re going to — we’re going to continue to move down that road.”
On Monday, Wolf sent a letter to Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler urging him to “prioritize public safety” by requesting federal assistance so his agents could quell the violence.
“I urge you to prioritize public safety and to request federal assistance to restore law and order in Portland,” Wolf wrote in the letter, obtained by Fox News.
“We are standing by to support Portland. At the same time, President Trump has made it abundantly clear that there will come a point when state and local officials fail to protect its citizens from violence, the federal government will have no choice but to protect our American citizens,” the letter continued.
Wolf explained in the letter that local law enforcement have made 255 arrests and declared 23 riots and unlawful assemblies since July 31.
“Despite this,” Wolf wrote, “you have stood by passively, arguing that the nightly violence ‘will ultimately burn itself out.’ The evidence demonstrates otherwise.”
Kamala Harris says these “protests” will continue after the election. With a smile! pic.twitter.com/2wgkvDYxTb
— An0maly (@LegendaryEnergy) August 28, 2020
We reported on vice president candidate Kamala Harris saying in June with a smile that the rioting would and should continue. In an interview with Stephen Colbert, Harris stunningly said:
“But they’re not gonna stop. They’re not gonna stop. And that’s – they’re not – this is a movement, I’m telling you. They’re not gonna stop.
Antifa is currently trying to burn down Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler’s apartment building. pic.twitter.com/aDAOtA8ovu
— Tara LaRosa (@TaraLaRosa) September 1, 2020
“And everyone beware, because they’re not gonna stop….
“They’re not gonna stop before election day in November, and they’re not gonna stop after election day.
“And that should be – everyone should take note of that on both levels.
“They’re not gonna let up. And they should not. And we should not.”
Mic drop 🎤 pic.twitter.com/vLkbqRl0hO
— Qanuck (@TrueQanuck11) August 31, 2020
Earlier this week, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany presented a list of Democrats and their media allies who either ignored or endorsed this year’s violence and riots:
“It’s interesting to me to see Democrats who ignored the violence all of the sudden caring about it, but let’s not forget what they said previously.
“Speaker Nancy Pelosi downplaying the violence in U.S. cities, ignorantly saying, ‘People will do what they do.’
“Jerry Nadler — when asked about Antifa he said, ‘That was a myth that’s being spread around Washington, D.C.’ It’s not a myth, in fact an Antifa individual took the life of an innocent Trump supporter in Portland.
“You have Rep. Ayanna Pressly saying she wanted unrest in the streets.
“Chris Cuomo saying, ‘Show me where protestors are supposed to be peaceful.’ I’ll give you an idea Chris, it’s the Constitution.”
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