Navy Veteran Chris David Says Unidentified Federal Agents In Portland Broke His Arm During Protest

Navy veteran Chris David alleged that unidentified federal officers broke his arm during a confrontation at a protest in Portland, Oregon, over the weekend, according to MSNBC.

David appeared in a viral video that showed him approaching a group of officers to question them about upholding their oath to the constitution, he said. But after getting near them, one person pushed him before another began beating him on the arm and body with a baton. Another individual sprayed him close-up with tear gas.

During the entire confrontation, David stood still as the troops struck him and gassed him. He eventually spun away and flipped his middle fingers as he walked away.

Federal police strike protester with baton, use pepper spray and tear gas outside courthouse in Portland pic.twitter.com/VX2xTVaaYq

— Zane Sparling (@PDXzane) July 19, 2020

While speaking on All In with Chris Hayes, David described the confrontation and detailed his resulting injuries.

“I did get injured. Principally my arm was broken, but in addition to that, I’ve got, you know, some bruising all over my body from the baton,” he said.

Portland has been in the news recently after agents were deployed to the city to quell Black Lives Matter protests, which have been ongoing for over 50 days since the death of George Floyd.

People at the demonstrations said that they were grabbed by the troops — who were only identified by a police patch — and put into unmarked minivans. One alleged that he was taken to the federal courthouse and later released without any explanation.

Critics have said the police force is an affront to democracy and questioned the legality of deploying agents against American citizens.

A group of mothers gathered together over the weekend to protect protesters from the agents, creating a human chain around the demonstrators.

David said that he went to the protest to question the group as a servant of the government himself. He was asked if he was able to find out who the officers were that assaulted him, or what area of the government they worked for.

“Oh, I had no idea to this day who they actually are,” he said. “I am still mystified and I’m not sure I have a good answer as to who those gentlemen were. Were they Customs and Border Patrol? Marshal service? Federal protection service? Nobody knows. I haven’t gotten a good answer for that. I think that would be a good question for Ken Cuccinelli.”

Cuccinelli is the current acting deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.

David noted that he believes Trump intended to use Portland as a testing ground before rolling out troops to cities like Chicago and New York.