PORTLAND, OR- Just like most sanctuary jurisdictions, officials in Portland, Oregon are unfamiliar with the United States Constitution, specifically the Supremacy Clause. The city became the latest far-left sanctuary city to pass a policy banning law enforcement officers from wearing face coverings and requiring that they wear clear identification. Antifa thugs are apparently exempt from the policy, Oregon Public Broadcasting reports.
The policy would ostensibly pit Portland police officers against Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal agents, where they could stop federal agents and ask them for their identification. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals already ruled that federal law trumps any dumb little ordinance, policy, or law dreamed up by a leftist politician in tossing a similar mask ban in California.
The Portland policy, the “brainchild” of Councilor Sameer Kanal, bans law enforcement officers (including feds, apparently) from wearing face coverings, and requires that they wear clear identification. It also mandates Portland Police Bureau officers to investigate if a person “doing something an officer would do,” apparently like detaining a member of the public, who doesn’t show credentials confirming they are a member of law enforcement.
dir="ltr">Kanal claims the proposal is a response to concerns he’s heard from the public who are “afraid of people pretending to be federal immigration agents,” which he claims has happened elsewhere.“WIth this vote we can show them that they are not alone, that their city has their backs, and that secret police have no place in a democracy,” Kanal said. For the record, the United States is a Republic, not that someone with the name “Sameer” would necessarily know that.
The ordinance passed with an 8-4 vote and was sponsored by councilors Eleana Pirtle-Guiney and Angelita Morillo. Despite the measure appearing to allow Portland police officers to arrest federal officers who wear masks, a clear violation of federal law, Kanal insists it does not.
“Let me say this clearly, this ordinance cannot and will not unmask ICE agents,” Kanal said.
In other words, the ordinance is a feel-good measure that makes Kanal and the other progressive dimwits on the city council feel good, but it means absolutely nothing.
Despite Kanal’s insistence, councilor Steve Novick, who supported the measure, believes there is a “high likelihood” it will be tossed in court due to the Ninth Circuit’s ruling. That begs the question–why pass the measure if you know it is unconstitutional? Again, it’s a feel good measure allowing the far-left liberals to virtue signal and claim they’re “doing something” for the low-information voters they tend to court for votes.
“But we do have strong legal arguments, and it’s an important cause, so I think it’s worth taking a chance that we might prevail,” Novick said. So now, “important cause[s] trump the United States Constitution. These are not serious people.
Portland Mayor Keith Wilson and the police union have urged councilors to reject the proposal. Portland Police Association president Aaron Schmautz said the plan must be included in collective bargaining between the city and the union prior to becoming policy, OBP reported.
Meanwhile, Portland Police Bureau Chief Bob Day told councilors last week that the policy is basically redundant since state law already prohibits people from impersonating law enforcement.
“This is going to require us to develop a policy, it’s gonna require us to train to that point, it’s going to require the documentation for the granting of exceptions,” Day said. “These are all additional tasks and they may seem small or insignificant, but they do add to a workload that’s already substantial.”
Some who opposed the measure said they believe it violates state labor laws, and expands the administrative workload for the police department during a period of significant budget cuts to public safety.
“I’m very concerned about encroaching fascism,” said Councilor Olivia Clark. “But I cannot in good conscience vote for something that does really not make a difference, but maybe makes people feel good.”
In other words, virtue signaling.
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