When unidentifiable federal agents began snatching protesters off the streets in Portland, people got nervous. When Donald Trump said earlier this week that he wanted to roll out the same strategy to Chicago, Philadelphia, New York and other cities, we got more nervous still. The elected officials in most of those cities urged the feds to stay away—and Philadelphia district attorney Larry Krasner took the extra step of issuing a statement threatening to prosecute them, saying, “Anyone, including federal law enforcement, who unlawfully assaults and kidnaps people will face criminal charges from my office.”
Such brash obstinacy was very much in character for Krasner, who spent his career as a left-wing defense lawyer before getting elected D.A. in 2017 as a progressive reformer on a platform of ending mass incarceration. (He sued the Philadelphia police department at least 75 times before being elected D.A.) Today, Krasner is one of the most outspoken of the crop of progressive district attorneys elected in major cities across the country in the past few years.
We spoke to him about what he might do about rogue federal agents descending on his city, and about our “drunken stumble” into fascism.
Hamilton Nolan: Have you heard anything officially about federal troops coming to Philly, other than Trump’s comments?
Larry Krasner: No.
Nolan: Do you think it’s going to happen?
Krasner: As they say, sometimes there is no there there. Is something gonna happen? Probably. But what does that mean? He’s saber rattling about, he’s gonna send 150 federal law enforcement officers to Chicago. The police department in Chicago is 12,000 people. So let us understand what we’re talking about: He’s gonna take over a city with one percent of their everyday police population? So, what I do know is he will say absolutely anything, and he has absolutely no interest in accomplishing anything useful.
Nolan: But of course, there’s still the issue of what the federal agents might do if they get there. For those of us who aren’t lawyers, what’s your understanding of the legality of federal troops coming into cities and taking people off the streets, like they’ve done in Portland?
Krasner: It appears to me—and I don’t have all the facts—but it appears to me there was illegal conduct in Portland. There was certainly extremely troubling conduct. If you jump out of an unmarked van, and you’ve blacked out the plates, and you grab a civilian on the street, you better have probable cause. It’s not at all apparent they did, although obviously I don’t know every single thing that they knew at the time. So that looked illegal. When you fire a deadly, life-threating, “non-lethal” round into a protester and fracture his skull, that would appear to be illegal. So, if you come to town, police or not, and you start kidnapping and assaulting people and causing serious bodily injury, without legal justification, you get arrested and you get charged. And I will charge people, whether they’re police or not, who engage in what is effectively kidnapping and brutal assault.
Nolan: This is still theoretical in Philly, but not in Portland, and perhaps not in Chicago soon. In that scenario, when you think about charging a federal agent, what would happen, realistically? Would you expect to be immediately overruled somehow?
Krasner: The way it works is, the law does in fact apply to federal employees including the president of the United States. I know he likes to pretend it doesn’t, but it does. So they actually have to come to town and obey the law. If they do not obey the law then they can be arrested, and they can be charged locally. Under [certain] circumstances, after they are charged, down the road they can try to have the case heard in federal court. But it does not apply all the time, it only applies some of the time.
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The 14th Amendment of our Constitution gives the president the right to protect all Americans. Idiots read the Constitution of the United States
Progressive's have denounced our Constitution since their RACIST Wilson was in office.You won't learn that in school though,because denocrat leadership is pure evil.
They need to be purged fron ALL our Institutions.
I really hate the Fycking Democrats,through "NO FAULT OF MY OWN". They're the devil for sure.
Americans (the conservatives): I have long called that town as "philthydelphia". Fits. the REgressive krasner, only "touts", but not really "law and order". As those blue towns are "for" the rioters, and against law and order. they are UN-American.
OK!! Let's get it on. Don't let the BIG fish skate on their indictments. As Fancy Nancy says: "NO-ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW"!!! That means "NO-ONE" Obama, Biden, Clinton, Holder, Rice, Comey, and the rest of them.
I want to see a fight break out between the Philadelphia district attorney Larry Krasner and Trump. Guess who outguns the other one! There are not enough weapons among all gun owners in the US to stand up against the force of federal government. So, my bet is on Trump :-)
Local law enforcement has no authority to arrest federal agents. Something about the "supremacy clause."
Actually the local Sheriff has the authority.
VERY BAD NEWS – VERY WELL FUNDED – TELL EVERYONE
Rallies Monday in 160 cities were led by Poor Peoples’ Campaign who want communism
https://www.independentsentinel.com/rallies-monday-in-160-cities-we...
Divide and conquer.
Watch out everyone. One piece of their strategy is to cause a good guy to step over the line because of emotional response.
That one misstep will be on every communist news outlet, and 98% are, 24 hours a day for multiple days.
But let this whack job arrest a federal agent doing his legitimate duty and they will praise him as a hero for a week.
What is even more threatening is if a gunfight ensues between the arresting officers and the feds. That will not turn out well.
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