Colorado Gov. Jared Polis disapproves of federal agents traveling in unmarked vehicles without agency identification detaining Oregon protesters, and said he has no sense that such agents could be headed to Colorado.
Responding at a news conference Tuesday to a question about federal agents seizing Portland protesters, Polis told a Denver Post reporter, “I only have the same level of knowledge that you have. I’ve read articles about it. … Based on what I’ve read in the press, yes, I have that concern that this is a violation of people’s rights, and I don’t think we’ve seen the accountability and transparency. Are there criminal charges? How long are these people being detained? Are they respecting habeas corpus? I don’t have the answers to that.”
President Donald Trump Portland-style tactics from federal law enforcement in other cities that are run by Democratic mayors and that have had Black Lives Matter protests. He did not name Denver as a target city, however.
Mike Strott, a spokesman for Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, said, “We are not aware of federal law enforcement being in Denver.”
Said Polis, “I would be alerted if this were to occur in Colorado and would be more actively involved.”
He added, “In Oregon, anything you do in public, there’s gonna be 16 people filming it on their iPhones, so whether I were to find out about it that way or through official channels, I’m confident that if it occurred here, we would all know about it pretty quickly.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Denver declined to comment.
There has been less unrest in Colorado this month than in June, when police in Denver, Colorado Springs and Aurora deployed chemical weapons against citizens protesting police brutality and systemic racism. But protests here continue — and police continue using chemical weapons, albeit less often.
Denver Post reporter Sam Tabachnik contributed to this report.
