By Steve Neavling

The FBI is assisting Portland police investigate what it called a “ridiculous” amount of shootings. 

The help is part of a partnership established last year called, Safe Streets Task Force, KOIN-TV reports.

At a news conference Tuesday, Kieran Ramsey, special agent in charge of the FBI in Oregon, said many of the shootings are connected to gang violence and the homeless population. 

Ramsey said the FBI will begin investigating the “worst of the worst” criminals who are using guns almost “indiscriminately.” 

The bureau is also offering rewards for seven shootings. 

Ramsey acknowledged in an interview with KOIN-TV that it won’t be easy. 

“Things like we saw over the weekend. A huge number of shootings. Mass shootings. Where, multiple injuries, multiple homicides. That bothers me all the time. I think, again, the fact that if we continue to see this pace, this year will break last year’s records,” Ramsey said.

By Steve Neavling

An Oregon woman says she was tricked into thinking she was training to become a DEA agent. 

Robert Edward Golden, 41, is accused of posing as a DEA agent and wearing a vest with “DEA Police” patches, handcuffs, badges, a BB gun that resembled an AR-15-style rifle, body-armor-plate carrier and DEA credentials, according to a criminal complain obtained by Insider.

For a year, Golden had convinced a woman she was a DEA agent in training. 

The duo was arrested on Feb. 1 after a suspicious police sergeant in Portland spotted one of the tactical vests. 

When approached, Golden is accused of saying that he and his “trainee” were “Feds.” 

The woman, who has not been identified, was not charged and said that she had been given a DEA badge and photo ID by Golden.

The pair went practice shooting and conducted night surveillance “ride-alongs.”

Golden faces up to three years in prison. 

By Steve Neavling

FBI agents embedded themselves in Portland’s racial justice protests, wearing plainclothes and marching alongside activists to record their activities and notify local police of potential arrests, The New York Times reports. 

The covert surveillance of antifascists, communists, racial justice advocates and anarchists continued after protest crowds grew smaller but also rowdier, smashing windows and setting fires. 

When protests turned violent, agents increased their surveillance and reported back to local law enforcement. 

Inside the bureau, some agents worried that the protests went too far, raising First Amendment issues. 

Kieran L. Ramsey, special agent in charge of the Portland Field Office, defended the surveillance, saying agents were pursuing “violent instigators who exploit legitimate, peaceful protests and engage in violations of federal law.”

“At all times, our focus was on those planning and committing significant criminal activity or acts of violence,” Ramsey said. 

The surveillance continued into 2021. 

By Steve Neavling

A confused family found themselves in the wrong Portland after a travel agent booked them a flight to the wrong city.  

Instead of flying to Portland, Maine, the family of three landed 3,000 miles away in Portland, Oregon. 

That’s when TSA Officer Martin Rio came to the rescue. Asked to interpret for the Spanish-speaking travelers at a checkpoint, Rios figured out what had happened. 

“Martin is always quick to help out his team members,” Supervisory TSA officer Kaitlyn Arnold said in a news release. “He has a very positive attitude and is always smiling. I know I can always count on Martin to be dedicated to the mission.”

The confused and disheartened family spent the night in a terminal. Rios walked the family to the ticket counter and helped them buy the correct tickets. 

But the family was low on finances, so Rios dug into his pocket and covered the travel expenses. 

“[Rios] is a go getter and the fact that he chose to support these passengers in their time of need was no surprise to both his team and our leadership,” Senior TSA Manager Jeremy Alanis said. “Martin is, and has been since day one, a shining example of what it means to be a team player. [He’s] the kind of officer and person any airport in the country would be proud to have as a member of their team.”

Rios was awarded the PDX’s Make the Connection Quarterly Award for his actions. 

By Steve Neavling

At least eight people have been charged in demonstrations that left an ICE building vandalized in Portland, police said. 

Shortly after 9 p.m. Wednesday, police said a group of roughly 150 people converged on the ICE building on the 4300 block of S. Macadam, tagging it with graffiti that included messages such as “Reunite families now” and “Kill cops!!!”

Some demonstrators were wearing gas masks and helmets and carrying batons, fireworks, shields, umbrellas, rocks and pepper ball guns, police said. 

Federal officers converged on the building at about 9:45 and pushed protesters back. In the meantime, Portland made arrests. 

I am running out of clever things to say about the feds filling the streets with gas but I want you to understand just how much gas they used tonight, so here's another clip of that

You can see the pesticide gun spraying tear gas at the right of the frame at the beginning. Cool pic.twitter.com/P7gdPlcswd

— Laura Jedeed, Space Professional (@LauraJedeed) January 21, 2021

Earlier in the day, protesters also attacked the Democratic Party of Oregon’s headquarters, smashing windows and spraying graffiti. 

By Steve Neavling

ticklethewire.com

A man accused of fatally shooting a President Trump supporter in Portland was killed Thursday as a federal task force tried to arrest him.

Federal investigators were moving in to arrest Michael Reinoehl, 48, when officials say he pulled a gun on the U.S. Marshals Service fugitive task force, The Associated Press reports.

Law enforcement then shot Reinoehl, who was the suspect in the fatal shooting of 39-year-0ld Aaron “Jay” Danielson, a supporter of the right wing group Patriot Prayer.

Reinoehl was shot at roughly the same time that Trump expressed impatience that the suspect was still at large.

On Thursday night, Trump expressed impatience with law enforcement.

“Why aren’t the Portland Police ARRESTING the cold blooded killer of Aaron “Jay” Danielson. Do your job, and do it fast. Everybody knows who this thug is. No wonder Portland is going to hell!” Trump tweeted.

Why aren’t the Portland Police ARRESTING the cold blooded killer of Aaron “Jay” Danielson. Do your job, and do it fast. Everybody knows who this thug is. No wonder Portland is going to hell! @TheJusticeDept @FBI

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 4, 2020

In a social media post, Reinoehl described himself as “100% ANTIFA.”

By Steve Neavling

ticklethewire.com

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf discussed Portland protests, systemic racism, domestic terrorism and other issues in this 13-minute interview with Axios.

Wolf pushed back against “this idea that we have systemic racism.”

“That means that we have designed a system that every law enforcement officer that goes through a law enforcement academy, a training facility, is somehow installed with racist views,” Wolf says.

He adds, “Again, I’m not saying that there’s not racist tendencies in some law enforcement officers. I think I wanna be clear about that. But again, what people mean by systemic racism is that we have designed an institution, a law enforcement institution, to be racist from the get-go. And I just — I don’t subscribe to that. I don’t believe in that.”

Other members of Trump’s administration who have denied systemic racism are White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow, National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien, and Attorney General Bill Barr.

The Government Accountability Office said last week that Wolf and Ken Cuccinelli, a senior official performing deputy secretary duties, were not appointed through a valid process and therefore aren’t legally qualified to hold their positions. The Trump administration rejected the findings, saying the were “erroneous.”

Watch the full interview here:

By Steve Neavling

ticklethewire.com

The U.S. House Intelligence Committee is investigating Homeland Security’s involvement in protests in Portland and other cities.

The investigation, launched Monday, also will review the dissemination of intelligence reporters on journalists and protesters.

“Let me be clear: the reporting regarding the monitoring of peaceful protesters, creating and disseminating intelligence reports about journalists and protesters, and potential exploitation of electronic devices is deeply troubling, Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., wrote in a letter to top DHS officials.

“The revelations thus far require a full accounting, and, if substantiated, must never be allowed to occur again,” Schiff added. “The Committee is therefore initiating, pursuant to its unique oversight and legislative authority, an investigation of I&A’s activities in Portland and in support of the Department’s response to protests nationwide.”

Homeland Security has drawn intense criticism for clashing with protesters and compiling intelligence reports on journalists covering protests in Portland.

The panel is calling at least nine DHS officials to testify in August.

Schiff ended his letter, saying the committee will consider “all options necessary to obtain compliance—including compulsory process.”

On Monday, Janet Napolitano, the former head of Homeland Security, criticized the department’s role in policing protests in Oregon, calling it “an abuse of authority” in a Washington Post op-ed.