Florida tells feds thanks, but no, we don’t need the anti-riot force. It had already arrived
The feds are here.
They are ready to quell the unrest in the streets.
But who summoned them? Anybody?
State and local officials insist they were blindsided by the arrival of a Federal Bureau of Prisons riot-control team in Miami on Monday, purportedly to assist the local police in clamping down on people protesting the killing by Minnesota police officers of George Floyd.
BOP anti-riot personnel would be a team presumably trained to deal with an Attica prison-style uprising.
It was the same day that President Donald Trump, in a speech maligned by some as belligerent, said he would send federal military personnel to various locales if state governors and city mayors did not take a tougher approach in handling protests that had turned violent. The speech came under sharp criticism, with some pointing out that the federal government generally only sends troops to quell unrest when a state requests them, as in the case of California after the Rodney King verdict.
Anti-riot teams with the Bureau of Prisons are not part of the military, active or otherwise.
On Tuesday, the offices of both Gov. Ron DeSantis and Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez told the Miami Herald that they were not aware of any federal personnel being deployed in Florida. Nor had they requested them. The Miami-Dade Police Department, in a statement to the Herald, said that the department does not require federal assistance, had not asked for it and was not in communication with the BOP team.
WPLG Local 10 reported later Tuesday, that the local U.S. Marshal’s office was in the process of receiving additional personnel from BOP but held back “after further consultation with local law enforcement leadership.”
Of note: At one point over the weekend, protesters paused near the Federal Detention Center, where the marshals are based, in downtown Miami. Inmates slammed their hands against the windows and flashed mirrors down onto the street, apparently in support, as marchers passed by.
BOP spokesperson Justin Long said that the personnel were sent to Miami by Attorney General William Barr. They specialize in crowd-control scenarios and belong to “highly trained tactical units capable of responding to prison disturbances, and providing assistance to other law enforcement agencies during emergencies”, he said. They were also sent to Washington D.C.
Barr and the Justice Department declined to comment.
Earlier on Monday, on a call with governors, President Trump had characterized the protests taking place around the country as “a movement” that must be put down. In Washington, he and Barr set an example.
Hundreds of federal security personnel, including from Customs and Border Protection, Drug Enforcement Administration, FBI and military police in armored humvees, descended on the city in a highly unusual show of force. Anti-riot troops routed peaceful protesters, deploying flash bangs and other riot-control devices, so the president could walk to a nearby church and be photographed holding a Bible.
Because the District of Columbia is not a state and has no governor, the president can bring in troops uninvited.
Mysterious deployment
In Florida, when reports of the BOP deployment first came up at a Miami-Dade County Commission meeting on Tuesday, Mayor Gimenez was caught off-guard: “I was unaware they were here . . . They don’t need to be here.”
“We are not aware of any federal troops or teams in Florida,” Gov. Ron DeSantis’ spokeswoman, Helen Aguirre Ferré, told the Herald. “The Governor’s office has not requested any federal troop assistance and the mayors of Miami-Dade and City of Miami have indicated the same.”
Protests in Miami over the weekend were marked by sporadic violence, arrests and property damage, including the torching of police cars.
Things had calmed down from Monday onward. Protests were peaceful and no one was arrested.
Freddy Ramirez, the county’s police director, confirmed that Washington had sent agents to Miami, but said that others were held back.
“There originally were supposed to be 110 coming here,” he said. Ramirez said he contacted Gadyaces Serralta, the federal marshal in charge of the Miami division. Serralta told headquarters the extra officers weren’t needed, but 23 officers were sent to Miami anyway.
“We have learned that federal agents arrived in South Florida to check on and secure federal property assets in Miami,” Mayor Gimenez’s office said in a statement to the Herald later in the day.
Serralta said that the BOP team was there to secure the federal prison in Miami.
Citing security issues, BOP declined to confirm how many personnel were sent, why BOP teams were sent only to Miami and Washington or what their objectives are.
Said an official Wednesday: “For security reasons, we are not providing further information.”
Miami Herald staff writer Doug Hanks contributed to the story.
This story was originally published June 3, 2020 at 2:51 PM with the headline "Florida tells feds thanks, but no, we don’t need the anti-riot force. It had already arrived."
