Cuccinelli on Portland Riots: ‘Pathetic Failure of Local and State Officials’

Ken Cuccinelli, acting deputy secretary of Homeland Security, said on Fox News’ America’s News HQ that the ongoing violent riots in Portland, Oregon, are a “pathetic failure of state and local officials.”

When asked about whether the federal government should step in to quell the violent Antifa activities, Cuccinelli spoke about the responsibility of those state and local officials.

“This president has not taken any options off the table and he’s been and he’s been pretty vociferous about that,” Cuccinelli said. “The tragedy here is all of this is controllable if the governor would simply back up the local police and bring in her own national guard.”

“She has over 7,800 National Guardsmen who she refuses to activate to contend with the situation in Portland,” Cuccinelli said. “Oregon has the resources to solve this problem and yet they refuse to do it.”

He added that the trend of protesters spilling from urban centers to neighbors is a concerning development.

“People’s homes are their castles,” Cuccinelli noted. “This is intentionally intimidating tactic on the part of — I won’t call them protesters because they’re intimidating. They’re criminals.”

“And when you have local authorities that won’t — and that’s the word here — that won’t solve this problem and in fact some of them actually encourage these rioters and criminals — should the federal government step in? 

“As I’ve said the president hasn’t taken any options off the table,” Cuccinelli said. “This is a pathetic failure of local and state officials.”

Nightly violent protests that have turned into riots have been taking place in Portland for almost three solid months and have resulted in numerous injuries to police officers and damaged properties, and shuttered businesses.

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