ATLANTA — Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms was among those who co-signed a letter from the mayor of Portland, Ore. to Attorney General William Barr objecting to the presence of federal law enforcement in cities.
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler posted the letter to Twitter on Monday night. His city has seen ongoing protests, and agents with the Department of Homeland Security have been deployed there against the wishes of local elected officials.
DHS says it is combating the activity of "violent anarchists," while local activists have decried scenes of demonstrators being arrested, seemingly at random, and put into unmarked vehicles.
President Trump has defended this use of federal agents in cities and said over the weekend they would next be sent to Chicago.
Wheeler's letter said the "unilateral deployment of these forces into American cities is unprecedented and violates fundamental constitutional protections and tenets of federalism."
It was co-signed by Mayor Bottoms and the mayors of Chicago, Washington, DC, Seattle, and Kansas City.
"Deployment of federal forces in the streets of our communities has not been requested nor is it acceptable," the letter states.
The lack of transparency in the arrests, made by agents who aren't readily identifiable driving an unmarked vehicle and taking detained demonstrators to unknown locations, has been particularly upsetting to activists and local officials.
"In many of our cities, our communities have expectations for law enforcement, including identification of officers, training, and recorded body camera footage, among other expectations and policies," the letter states. "These expectations are being blatantly disregarded by federal forces."
The letter asserts the federal agents are "being deployed for political purposes," with the president making a strong "law and order" stance a central part of his re-election campaign.
"The President and his administration continually attack local leadership and amplify false and divisive rhetoric purely for campaign fodder," it states. "Their words and actions have created an environment of fear and mistrust."
See the full letter below in Wheeler's tweet:
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