Acting Deputy Homeland Security Secretary Ken Cuccinelli says in all 49 years of existence of the Federal Protective Service “they’ve never seen anything like [the riots of] Portland.” And that includes the lasers being used by violent black bloc attired antifa and their allies in the Black Lives Matter movement who have been rioting for the past nearly 70 nights.
Agents are assaulted w/laser weapons in #Portland every night.
These are deliberate acts of aggression against Agents who are guarding the federal courthouse. Violent extremists are ramping up the use of these & other weapons that are causing severe bodily harm to our Agents. pic.twitter.com/7tGzM3qEFG
— Chief Rodney Scott (@USBPChief) July 27, 2020
Cuccinelli, testifying before a special subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee on anarchist and antifa violence, said that antifa rioters have begun using more lasers aimed at federal officers to blind them.
Of the 277 injuries to the federal officers since being sent to protect the federal courthouse in downtown Portland since July 4, 113 of the injuries have been caused by the lasers you can buy on Amazon for $97.00. Cuccinelli says the laser injuries are by far the most numerous suffered by officers.
.@HomelandKen says that out of 277 injuries to law enforcement officers from rioters, 113 have been eye injuries from lasers. pic.twitter.com/ez2MC0YmTr
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) August 4, 2020
Cuccinelli told senators that rioters “clearly planned” the laser attacks on officers. Shields confiscated by federal police found holes in them to train the lasers through to blind officers while the rioters advanced on them.
You’re trying to shield your eye and still trying to do your job.
In addition to being blinded for days, some officers suffered a short term blind spot in their vision and were left vulnerable to advancing violent rioters who carried a variety of weapons.
Fortunately, officers who had been blinded were regaining their sight.
Those who had days’ long blindness so far they’ve all kind of come back, if you will..
The Acting Deputy DHS Secretary testified that in addition to longer-term blindness, “you also get what’s called flash blindness – think of it as the old Kodak cameras where you get that blue spot you can’t quite see your entire field of vision for a period of time.”
The second highest injuries from the Portland riots came from “what we euphemistically call ‘contact with an object.'” That includes rocks, bricks, bats, bottles of frozen water, and more weapons.
The Acting DHS Deputy says that after-action reports by antifa and their allies show that the criminals compare notes and use the same tactics in other cities where there are planned riots.
At the same hearing, US Attorney Erin Knealy Cox reported that 97 people have been arrested in the Portland riots and that they’re investigating about 300 “domestic terrorist investigations” since the George Floyd inspired riots began May 28th.
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