Here's an account of a couple that were taken in by these unidentified Federal officers in unmarked vehicles:
In the early hours of July 15, after a night spent protesting at the Multnomah County Justice Center and Mark O. Hatfield Federal Courthouse, Mark Pettibone and his friend Conner O’Shea decided to head home.
Totally not connected in any way to things happening at the protest location.
It had been a calm night compared to most protesting downtown. By 2 a.m. law enforcement hadn’t used any tear gas and, with only a few exceptions, both the Portland Police Bureau and federal law enforcement officers had stayed out of sight.
Interesting turn of phrase there for defining a "calm night" and conspicuously absent is mention of what the protesters were doing.
Problem with the previously linked DHS statement is it leaves some ambiguity if activities on the morning of the 15th are part of the 14th, or 15th... But in any case:
07/14/2020
Violent anarchists set a container of liquid on fire at the Terry Schrunk Plaza.
Violent anarchists jumped a fence and attempted to breach the Edith Green Federal Building.
Violent anarchists assaulted federal law enforcement officers with cans and other hard objects while they attempted to unblock the entrance of the Edith Green Federal Building.
07/15/2020
Violent anarchists doxed members of federal law enforcement.
Violent anarchists attempted to damage the Hatfield Courthouse by throwing objects at it and spray painting it. Numerous fireworks were also lit.
Violent anarchists trespassed on federal property and destroyed a card reader at the Justice Center.
Going by "law enforcement officers had stayed out of sight" we'll assume it was the second option. Events on the morning of the 15th are being described as happening on the 15th. In any case, neither night appears to actually conform to OPB's claim of "a calm night" unless you're wanting to twist things around "compared to most protesting downtown(in recent nights)."
So we have federal officials, who based on events of the prior night have decided that apprehending perpetrators on site is high risk and have now decided to try to track them until they leave the protest site and are in a venue where apprehension
can be done safely for all involved.
A block west of Chapman Square, Pettibone and O’Shea bumped into a group of people who warned them that people in camouflage were driving around the area in unmarked minivans grabbing people off the street.
...
They had barely made it half a block when an unmarked minivan pulled up in front of them.
“I see guys in camo,” O’Shea said. “Four or five of them pop out, open the door and it was just like, ‘Oh *censored*. I don’t know who you are or what you want with us.’”
Also absent from the text description, but from reports regarding the video(which I admittedly haven't seen, but is also lacking in the article) indicate that
the Uniforms were marked so they knew which agency was grabbing them, even if the people weren't wearing name tags.
Federal law enforcement officers have been using unmarked vehicles to drive around downtown Portland and detain protesters since at least July 14. Personal accounts and multiple videos posted online show the officers driving up to people, detaining individuals with no explanation of why they are being arrested, and driving off...
Yes, because cruising around in marked vehicles in an area where protesters have a history of swarming and destroying marked vehicles is a good idea.
But interviews conducted by OPB show officers are also detaining people on Portland streets who aren’t near federal property, nor is it clear that all of the people being arrested have engaged in criminal activity. Demonstrators like O’Shea and Pettibone said they think they were targeted by federal officers for simply wearing black clothing in the area of the demonstration.
More spin, and again, they've being exceedingly vague about the criteria they're using. What exactly constitutes "not near federal propetry" 3 blocks, 4 blocks, 1 mile? I also like how they've playing the "haven't engaged in criminal activity" while ignoring the matter that "They may have met the description of the people they were looking for at the time." You know, black beanies, black face mask, black shirt, black pants, right height, general build, etc... And having been tracked leaving the area where the crime occurred. It's like probable cause isn't a thing for law enforcement..
O’Shea said he ran when he saw people wearing camouflage jump out of an unmarked vehicle. He said he hid when a second unmarked van pursued him.
Because running from uniformed law enforcement is always a good way to establish your innocence.
Pettibone and O’Shea both said they couldn’t think of anything they might have done to end up targeted by law enforcement. They attend protests regularly but they said they aren’t “instigators.” They don’t spray paint buildings, shine laser pointers at officers or do anything else other than attend protests, which law enforcement have regularly deemed “unlawful assemblies.”
Yeah, "We've done nothing wrong except intentionally dress like the people who
are doing something wrong, and routinely showing up on the nights where they're committing those crimes." And also ignore that whole matter of what was often happening to cause the protest to be deemed unlawful.
Blinded by his hat, in an unmarked minivan full of armed people dressed in camouflage and body armor who hadn’t identified themselves, Pettibone said he was driven around downtown before being unloaded inside a building. He wouldn’t learn until after his release that he had been inside the federal courthouse.
Except their body armor does identify their agency. But anyhow..
“It was basically a process of facing many walls and corners as they patted me down and took my picture and rummaged through my belongings,” Pettibone said. “One of them said, ‘This is a whole lot of nothing.’”
Probable cause. He himself admits he was in the area where a crime occurred(which the reported obfuscates), that he was dressed like the perpertrators, and was apprehended after leaving the protest site. But they did
correctly identify him as having been a protester. I'd be upset about this if they were snatching people who were unconnected to the protests... But at roughly 2:30 AM and less than 2 blocks away, that's going to be hard to achieve I'd think.
Pettibone said he was put into a cell. Soon after, two officers came in to read him his Miranda rights. They didn’t tell him why he was being arrested. He said they asked him if he wanted to waive his rights and answer some questions, but Pettibone declined and said he wanted a lawyer. The interview was terminated, and about 90 minutes later he was released. He said he did not receive any paperwork, citation or record of his arrest.
Happens more often than many people would like to think, he was "a person of interest" and (correctly) identified as being non-cooperative, he was brough in, positively identified, evidence was examined, determined he wasn't the guy they were looking for, and let go.
But hey, at least he and the reporter are honest here:
“I just happened to be wearing black on a sidewalk in downtown Portland at the time,” Pettibone said. “And that apparently is grounds for detaining me.”
No @#$& maybe next time you decide to attend one of those protests, wear something that sets you apart from the lunatics trying to tear stuff down. Rather than dressing like decoy for them.
Just imagine the government doing this at the next rally for Confederate statues. Men in camouflage and body armor picking up anyone who looks like a neo-Nazi and tossing them in unmarked vans. How well do you think that would go on before going downhill fast? Before Hannity and company decry this as actions of a police state and call for the removal of the President?
Depends, there are shades of nuance here that wildly skew things against the protester in this case.
How many neo-Nazi rallies involved property destruction of vandalism? Or attempts there-of? How many of them happen between the hours of 11PM and 2AM? how many of those rallies involve everyone wearing virtually identical clothing
and face coverings?