Federal Agents Still Shoot People in Portland; Media Still Calls it 'Police'
When federal agents shoot citizens in an American city, one might expect a mainstream news outlet like The Independent to, say, call them 'federal agents.' The story notes federal agents shot and wounded two people in Portland, yet the headline astonishingly reads: 'Federal agents shoot and wound two people in Portland, police say .' (Emphasis added). This isn't a mere lexical slip; it’s a subtle
but significant obfuscation. The deployment of federal law enforcement, often from agencies like the Department of Homeland Security, to suppress protests – as seen repeatedly in Portland in 2020 – raises critical questions about federal overreach and civil liberties. Yet, the story frames it as a standard 'police incident,' washing away the political implications of agents operating outside
typical local jurisdictions. One might wonder if the subtle re-framing of 'federal agents' as generic 'police' simplifies the narrative, making it easier to digest without having to delve into uncomfortable discussions about executive power or the militarization of federal agencies tasked with domestic security. It's a convenient flattening of a complex issue, reducing state-sanctioned violence to
a routine policing matter, rather than a potentially problematic exercise of federal power. When the press uses police terminology for federal actions, who, exactly, are they protecting?