These agents were from the federal government. Some of them were from Special Operations Group and Customs and Border Protection’s BORTAC. Legally, federal agents are only allowed to arrest people on suspicion of federal crimes. Officially, they are only supposed to protect property that belongs to the U.S. federal government, but they have arrested people who were not near federal property. They did not ask the State of Oregon or the City of Portland for permission to arrest people in Portland. The mayor of Portland, Ted Wheeler, said he did not want the federal agents in the city. Governor of Oregon Kate Brown said it was "political theater from President Trump has nothing to do with public safety" and "a blatant abuse of power by the federal government."