Hundreds of federal agents descend on DC to quell violence

WASHINGTON (AP) — The two black SUVs travel from checkpoint to checkpoint, each guarded by federal drug enforcement agents alongside members of the National Guard.

Just down the street from the White House, acting Drug Enforcement Administrator Timothy Shea hops out to greet his agents who have been working 12- to 14-hour shifts to prevent any more of the violence that has erupted in Washington during protests over the police death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

The more than 100 DEA agents who have been deployed in the district are part of a massive federal response by the Trump administration aimed at quelling the violence. Scores of heavily armed federal officers in tactical gear have been on the streets for days, after demonstrators set fires, broke store windows and stole items from the shelves and left police officers injured.

“We have to respect protesters, but we can’t tolerate criminal activity associated with that,” Shea said Wednesday, after reminding a group of agents that the demonstrations could go late into the night.

For Shea and others who have been working around-the-clock, splitting their time between the street and a Justice Department command center, their agents are serving a vital purpose by helping to relieve the Metropolitan Police Department so it can handle other emergencies that could arise.

Over the course of a few hours, Shea visited a handful of checkpoints throughout downtown Washington that have been set up to help slow the numbers of vehicles coming into the area. Investigators believe vans are being brought in, loaded with bricks and rocks to be thrown at police. On Wednesday, investigators uncovered a full pallet of bricks they believe demonstrators were planning to use to throw at officers, a law enforcement official said.

“They’ve been verbally assaulted at times. Earlier in the week there were bricks thrown at their vehicles, and they responded with restraint and they respected the rights of protesters but were also able to identify crimina... (Read more)

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