4 ms·

Got a source they are "unmarked" ? The pictures I've seen are regular fatigues with patches marking and other symbols marking who they are with.

• krapp 6y ago
  Apparently the vehicles are unmarked, and any patches or other worn identifiers are generic or nonspecific.
• ianleeclark 6y ago
  The first paragraph says that there are only generic "police," patches on their fatigues. No badge numbers, nothing indicating where from, or anything beyond that patch. I know someone might say that's technically marked, but, when you're being pushed into a minivan, that's pretty vague. I know damn near any american reading this will have been told as a child not to go along with a stranger just because they said they were police.
  • entropea 6y ago
    https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=police+patch https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=police+patch There are the generic "POLICE" rectangle badges in there too. They are essentially unidentified.
    • kyleee 6y ago
      are they wearing any other agency/organization patches?
      • pandaman 6y ago
        They appear to. Even on the video[1], which was obviously shot on a potato (or Twitter compressed the shit out of it) you can see there is a round emblem on the left arm. You can see at multiple times, for example at 15 seconds. 1. https://twitter.com/matcha_chai/status/1283328232033411072 https://twitter.com/matcha_chai/status/1283328232033411072
• agentdrtran 6y ago
  the vehicles are rentals
• dekhn 6y ago
  Only a single anecdotal observation in this article, and not speaking directly about the vans: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/17/us/portland-protests.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/17/us/portland-protests.html """One of the people detained, Mark Pettibone, said in an interview that an unmarked vehicle stopped right in front of him around 2 a.m. on Wednesday and four people in camouflage jumped out. Given the lack of markings or identification, he had no idea who they were. One of the officers said, ‘It’s OK, it’s OK,’ and just grabbed me and threw me into the van. Another officer pulled my beanie down, so I couldn’t see,” Mr. Pettibone said. Mr. Pettibone said he was terrified and that at no point was he told why he was arrested or detained, or what agency the officers were with. He said he was ultimately held for about two hours before being released.'"" Most articles I've found are citing statements from one or two individuals (Pettingbone): https://www.opb.org/news/article/federal-law-enforcement-unmarked-vehicles-portland-protesters/#.XxD9y_CwH4w.twitter\ https://www.opb.org/news/article/federal-law-enforcement-unm... I haven't seen enough authoritative evidence to truly say that there are "unmarked vans driving around portland kidnapping protestors"; if the federal government is doing that to nonviolent protestors who are obeying orders, they put themselves directly at risk of being sued for civil rights violations. I've noticed that WaPo is especially prone to rumormongering/anecdote amplification in a way that makes it sound like the problem is far worse than it really is. I find it necessary to read a wider range of news to get a fully informed view.
  • fapjacks 6y ago
    I think this is happening in order to identify specific people who can be demonstrated to have some sort of link to other, unidentified instigators that the feds are after (e.g. linked via drone or bodycam or other footage showing interaction). So they pull somebody off the street in this manner, conclusively identify the person, and then pull and add that person's metadata to the Palantir graphs, in order to identify the people they can't find, or people they suspect are running the instigator show. That this is happening in Portland in particular does not surprise me at all, given the history of the city and the level of organization at protests and riots there in the past (something I have personal experience with and know a bit about). I strongly suspect that local law enforcement is fully supporting these operations, even if they are not doing so outwardly, or even denying it.