DHS warns Portland mayor that feds ‘will have no choice but to protect our American citizens’ if unrest continues

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US Department of Homeland Security Acting Secretary, Chad Wolf, appears before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on August 6, 2020 in Washington, DC, to answer questions about the use of federal agents during protests in Portland, Oregon. (Photo by Toni L. SANDYS / POOL / AFP) (Photo by TONI L. SANDYS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf issued a stern warning to Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler in a Monday letter, saying that the federal government “will have no choice but to protect our American citizens” if unrest continues.

Portland has been the site of ongoing protests fueled by the death of George Floyd and Jacob Blake. While protests have been largely peaceful, the Trump administration has focused on bursts of violence.

“Due to a lack of action throughout the summer, Portland and its law-abiding residents continue to suffer from large-scale looting, arson, and vandalism — even killing. Businesses remain shuttered and Portlanders are held hostage by the daily violence that has gripped the city with no end in sight,” Wolf said in the letter to Wheeler, urging him to accept federal law enforcement assistance.

Wolf’s letter, released by the Department of Homeland Security Tuesday, comes after Wheeler sent an open letter to President Donald Trump declining federal assistance to the city.

Wolf and Attorney General William Barr met with Trump Monday to discuss unrest in cities.

This story is breaking and will be updated.

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