Federal law enforcement officers have used unmarked vehicles to detain protesters in Portland, according to news reports.
Videos shared online show officers driving up to people, detaining individuals without explanation, then driving off, Oregon Public Broadcastingfirst reported.
Mark Pettibone, 29, told the Washington Post and OPB that he was among those protesters grabbed off the streets of Portland. Pettibone said he was heading home from a protest with a friend early Wednesday morning when several men in green military fatigues jumped out of an unmarked gray van.
“I was terrified,” Pettibone told the Post. “It seemed like it was out of a horror/sci-fi, like a Philip K. Dick novel. It was like being preyed upon.”
He ran, but said he was caught, detained and searched. He said he was placed in a holding cell in a federal courthouse, officers read him his Miranda rights and he declined to waive those rights and answer questions. Then, he said he was released with no record of his arrest.
“Usually when we see people in unmarked cars forcibly grab someone off the street we call it kidnapping — what is happening now in Portland should concern everyone in the US,” the American Civil Liberties Union stated. “These actions are flat-out unconstitutional and will not go unanswered.”
