Acting DHS Sec. Chad Wolf
(Screenshot)
“The smear attacks leveled against our officers is disgusting,” U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Acting Secretary Chad Wolf said Tuesday at a press conference addressing the federal government’s efforts to protect federal property in Portland, Oregon during the ongoing violent riots and protests.
Even though the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) deployed to Portland are required to wear camouflage, they are civilian police officers, not military, and the insignia and patches they on their uniforms clearly show this, Wolf explained:
“The smear attacks leveled against our officers is disgusting. As it relates to CBP officers deployed in Portland, these highly-trained officers are in multi-camouflage wear because they work on the southwest border and they work in an environment that demands that. That is their everyday uniform. And it is completely appropriate.
“They have insignia on their uniforms that read ‘police’ and they have patches…that indicate which agency they are from.”
Sec. Wolf criticized media for falsely claiming the CBP officers are military. He said that portraying these civilian officers as stormtroopers or Gestapo is both dishonest and offensive:
“Let me repeat: these officers are not military. Let’s not confuse that. I’ve seen inaccurate press reporting accusing them of being military. They are not military. They are civilian police officers.
“These police officers are not stormtroopers. They are not the Gestapo, as some have described them. That description is offensive, it’s hyperbolic and it’s dishonest.
“And every law enforcement officer and every reasonable American knows this.”
