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    USMS Letter To Rep. Blumenauer

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    Kyle Iboshi
    Letter sent to Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon) regarding aircraft flying over Portland on June 13, 2020.

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    USMS Letter To Rep. Blumenauer

    Uploaded by

    Kyle Iboshi
    195 views2 pages
    Letter sent to Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon) regarding aircraft flying over Portland on June 13, 2020.

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    USMS Letter to Rep. Blumenauer

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    Letter sent to Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon) regarding aircraft flying over Portland on June 13, 2020.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    195 views2 pages

    USMS Letter To Rep. Blumenauer

    Uploaded by

    Kyle Iboshi
    Letter sent to Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon) regarding aircraft flying over Portland on June 13, 2020.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
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    U.S.

    Department of Justice

    United States Marshals Service

    Office of Congressional Affairs

    Washington, DC 20530-0001

    August 19, 2020

    The Honorable Earl Blumenauer


    Member, U.S. House of Representatives
    1111 Longworth House Office Bldg
    Washington, D.C. 20515

    Dear Congressman Blumenauer,

    This responds to your letter to Director Donald Washington dated June 24, 2020,
    inquiring about the activities of a United States Marshals Service (USMS) aircraft over Portland,
    Oregon on June 13, 2020.

    We appreciate your concern for the rights of Oregonians, and want you to know that the
    USMS is committed to protecting the rights of all American citizens while fulfilling our statutory
    obligation to protect the federal judicial process, members of the court family, and federal
    courthouses.

    As you know, part of the USMS mission is to provide support to varied elements of the
    federal justice system. USMS provides for the security of federal court facilities and the safety of
    judges, witnesses, prisoners, and other court personnel. Since the death of George Floyd starting
    on May 29th and nightly thereafter, there have been peaceful protests every day and evening
    around the Mark Hatfield U.S. Courthouse in Portland. Unfortunately, every evening violent
    rioters unaffiliated with peaceful protestors have attacked the courthouse and tried to harm the
    deputy U.S. Marshals tasked with protecting it. On two occasions, criminals have forced entry
    into the courthouse building before being arrested or repelled. There have been multiple
    incidents where individuals have tried to set the courthouse on fire or gain access to destroy it.

    On June 13, 2020, USMS management approved deployment of an air asset to assist the
    ongoing law enforcement challenges on the ground. The aircraft, a single engine Cessna
    Caravan, is owned and operated by the USMS, and is registered in accordance with standard
    operating practices for federal law enforcement agencies. The aircraft is equipped with an
    imaging system (aviation electro-optical and infrared camera) that gave better situational
    awareness to the small number of deputies who were defending the federal courthouse during a
    time of great uncertainty.

    Cell site simulators were not used during this short deployment, and we hope you
    understand that USMS can only use equipment like cell site simulators under the supervision of a
    court order or pursuant to approved exigent circumstances. No other surveillance systems other
    1
    than the identified camera platform were utilized and no judicial authorization was required for
    use of the camera.

    The camera provided still pictures of crowds to assist a legitimate law enforcement
    function. Specifically, images of the identified courthouse(s) and surrounding area, spanning a
    1.5 hour period from June 13-14, 2020, were captured by the camera device (no videos were
    recorded). To the extent people are visible in those images, they appear as indistinct heat
    signatures with no physical characteristics, biographic identifiers, or personally identifiable
    information of any kind. What the images show is the influx of crowds approaching the
    Multnomah County Justice Center and Hatfield U.S. Courthouse within the final hours of June
    13 and into the early morning hours of June 14. The collected images were not shared with any
    other agencies or entities. To help allay your concerns, we have enclosed one of the images taken
    by the aircraft during that evening.

    We hope this information is helpful. A similar letter has been sent to the other cosigners.
    Please contact this office if we may provide additional assistance regarding this or any other
    matter.

    Sincerely,

    William Delaney
    William Delaney
    Chief, Office of Congressional and Public Affairs

    Enclosed: 06132020 Portland Aircraft Imagery

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