- The Washington Times - Tuesday, July 28, 2020

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan on Monday said the federal government’s deploying agents to various cities during recent unrest is a “dry run for martial law.”

“He’s clearly targeted cities ran by Democratic mayors — he’s said so himself. He’s using law enforcement as a political tool,” Ms. Durkan said of President Trump on CNN. “I hate to say it … but I really believe that we are seeing [the] dry run for martial law. This is a president that is using law enforcement and federal forces for political purposes and that should be chilling to every American.”

There were about 60 law enforcement officers injured in Seattle over the weekend and 47 people were arrested.

Ms. Durkan said it’s Mr. Trump who has escalated things in Seattle and around the country.

“I believe if you look at what happened yesterday and Sunday again it was peaceful,” she said. “We had a number of peaceful protests, and what we’ve seen is every time this president promises to sow division he’s successful at it.”

Federal officials also announced 22 arrests after a weekend of clashes between federal officers and protesters in Portland, Oregon.

• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.

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