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Portland Police Chief Chuck Lovell is the latest local official to say he was not aware Portland Police Bureau officers would remain federal deputies through the end of 2020 when he consented to their deputization on behalf of the city ahead of a Sept. 26 Proud Boys rally in Delta Park, according to bureau spokesman Derek Carmon.
It remains unclear whether Lovell will formally withdraw consent from the agreement, or if that would affect U.S. Attorney for Oregon Billy Williams' assertion the deputizations remain in place through December.
Mayor Ted Wheeler says neither he nor any other elected officials in the city were consulted before Lovell consented to federally deputize Portland police officers. "The problem is that the decision apparently lasts beyond the governor's stated emergency," Wheeler says.
Ahead of the November election, the mayor plans to convene city, county, state and federal officials to create a contingency plan for mutual aid agreements.
"Cities all across the United States are preparing to protect the public during what could be a time of unrest or unease or anxiety," Wheeler says. "And we need to do that here."
His opponent in the November election, Sarah Iannarone, says the deputized officers should be pulled from street duty. "So long as an officer is only accountable to Donald Trump," Iannarone tells WW, "they should not be policing Portlanders."