[conspire] Federales in Portland?

[Rick Moen]

Quoting Paul Zander (paulz at ieee.org):

> Mostly the demonstrators were seeking redress of grievances with the
> local police.  It was in the local news everyday.   
> 
> At the end of last week, suddenly people were being "kidnapped" by men
> in unmarked uniforms driving unmarked cars and not telling their
> victims why they were  being detained.  
> 
> It is the total lack "due process" that I find most disturbing.

As a strict _legal_ matter, they appear to have this covered.  CBP is
exempted, at least under declared emergency conditions (it is claimed)
from all other Federal law enforcement agencies' obligations to show
insignias & badges and identify themselves.  This abridgement of
oversight presumably got justified originally on the basis of the
assumption that border enforcement would involve, y'know, the border.

Police detaining persons for a limited time and then releasing them 
is due process _provided_ police satisfy the USSC's criteria in Terry v.
Ohio.  This situation is called a 'Terry stop', because of the court
case, where police hold you on _reasonable articulable suspicion_ that
the person was involved in, or was about to commit, a crime, and has a
reasonable belief that the person 'may be armed and dangerous'. These 
reasons are required to be based on 'specific and articulable facts' and
cannot just be the product of some officer's hunch.

Terry stops (temporary detention that could lead to arrest but might
not) are supposed to be on the record and can be challenged in court.
Police are not allowed to just scoop you off the street and put you in a
holding cell just because an officer said 'I thought he looked
suspicious' let alone 'He was wearing black clothing in Portland at 2am
(which makes the suspect indistinguishable from every other goth in the
Pacific Northwest).

Several of the persons detained were actually charged with any of
various petty crimes (like graffiti), and will have their day in court.
The vast majority, however, were just quickly cut loose with zero
explanation or justification and as little information as humanly
possible, particularly the smart ones who replied 'No, I do not waive my
right to an attorney just because you want to interrogate me.  I want a
lawyer now, and I am not talking to you without one present.'  Those
have pretty much uniformly been quickly pushed back out the Federal
Building's door.