ShutDownDC rallies in Alexandria at the home of acting secretary of Homeland Security

A crowd gathered outside the home of Chad Wolf, the acting secretary of Homeland Security, in Alexandria, Virginia, on Sunday afternoon to protest the recent controversial detention of protesters in Portland, Oregon. The group also continued to shed light on police use of force in the deaths of George Floyd in Minneapolis, and Breonna Taylor in Louisville, and the way other minority communities have been treated by authorities. ShutDownDC organized the protest on Facebook. The group considers Wolf responsible for unidentified federal agents forcefully detaining protesters and using chemical deterrents like pepper spray and tear gas to disperse crowds.

As part of a national call to action, the group rallied at Wolf’s house in Alexandria, demanding that Homeland Security’s troops be removed from every city. Jonathan Krall, of Grassroots Alexandria, said the human rights abuses in Portland should never have happened. “The behavior of the DHS is extremely worrying,” he said. “There should be due process. There shouldn’t be people picked up without paperwork. There shouldn’t be people picked up without documentation of what’s going on.” Krall said he wants transparency within the police departments — especially from the police force in Alexandria, where he lives. “They don’t give receipts for people who they stop and question, and we would like to see that changed,” Krall said. The crowd marched through the quiet neighborhood chanting “Black Lives Matter,” and “No justice, no peace.” On ShutDownDC’s Facebook page, the group calls for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to be abolished, and for every person detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection to be freed. The protest remained peaceful, with activists calling on other community members to step up to defend Black and minority communities against the Trump administration’s actions. The protests in Portland have escalated recently due to officers’ use of force on the crowds. Earlier this week, Trump threatened to send federal agents to more cities including Baltimore, Chicago and Kansas City.