Update: 5:22 p.m.
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett shared this statement about the plan from President Trump for federal agents conducting law enforcement here.
“Given the events that have taken place in Portland over the last few nights, I am extremely concerned that President Trump is looking for opportunities to create more political division in cities across the nation. Federal agents are not welcome here for that purpose.”
“If the federal presence is to truly cooperate with local law enforcement, then it is imperative the limits of their activities are clearly delineated and monitored.”
Update: 1:55 p.m.
During Governor Tony Evers’ latest update on the coronavirus pandemic, he took a reporter’s question about President Trump’s plan for federal agents coming to Milwaukee.
“I oppose that. I sent the President a letter expressing my concern about sending agents to Milwaukee or Madison, or anyplace in the state,” he said. “I have full faith and trust, not only in the people of Wisconsin, but the people who serve our police forces at the local level. Amping up the federal presence, I believe, will create more turmoil.”
Original story
The President of the United States announced that Milwaukee is one of three Midwestern cities where his administration will send federal law enforcement agents in the next three weeks.
President Donald Trump announced that the Department of Justice is sending agents to Milwaukee, Cleveland and Detroit after what they call “the unacceptable levels of recent violence in U.S. cities.”
Agents have already been deployed to cities such as Portland and Kansas City. The actions of camouflaged, unidentified agents in Portland led to violent clashes between federal agents and demonstrators.
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler was tear gassed as he protested federal agents’ presence in his city, calling it an unconstitutional federal occupation.
225 federal agents from the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives joined 400 agents already working and living in the Kansas City area as part of the same operation.
Chicago is on edge as it awaits the arrival of federal agents to combat their surge in gun violence that recently included a gang gun-battle outside a funeral.
Activists there say it could spark even more violence and attract the kind of agitators who attacked police during a recent downtown protest.
They also worry that such a scene is just the kind of thing President Donald Trump wants to convince voters in the upcoming presidential election that only he can restore order to the nation’s cities.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
