A dangerous new factor in an uneasy moment: Unidentified law enforcement officers

Could This Be the Beginning of a Trend? #3 The Washington Post: PoliticsAnalysis A dangerous new factor in an uneasy moment: Unidentified law enforcement officers By Philip Bump https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/06/03/dangerous-new-factor-an-uneasy-moment-unidentified-law-enforcement-officers/?fbclid=IwAR0nYj_f1rwyDY-_RcsQqm8lmehq7ktFab9eylztyJ-DqPuXACJ_DYWwB7c 6.8.20 To add to the unrest and tension of the last couple of week, we’re now seeing what may be a dangerous new factor. Presumed law enforcement offices, armed and equipt for riot duty have started showing up at potential protest sites. I say ‘presumed’ because they wear no badge or logo that would identify their unit and they have no name tags. For lack of a better term, I’m going to refer to them as the “mystery force”. There appear to be two factors of concern with this development. First, there’s no way to contact their chain of command to determine the extent of their ‘authority’. Second, since there have been incidents of ‘militia types’ appearing in public and at protest events dressed in full military garb and often carrying weapons, there exists the possibility of people posing as law enforcement, but who are not affiliated with any law enforcement agency. Given Pres. Trump’s recommendation that governors and mayors “dominate” the scenes of protests, these “mystery forces” could be imposing unauthorized authority on the public on behalf of unknown entities. That is not a good scenario. It smacks of ‘vigilante justice’. There’s also the possibility that legitimate officers might not recognize one another, without appropriately displayed unit identifications. All is all, it represents a troubling development. Is it going to become the trend?

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