A Department of Homeland Security officer patrols the Mark O. Hatfield federal courthouse in Portland, Ore., July 25, 2020.
Bradley W. Parks / Bradley W. Parks
The Biden administration has revoked a series of executive orders issued by President Trump, including an order that justified the deployment of hundreds of federal agents to Portland last summer.
The order Biden has revoked directed the U.S. attorney general to aggressively prosecute anyone who vandalized statues or federal property.
Trump issued the order after protests against racism and police violence swept the country, and as protestors toppled statues of confederate generals and former presidents. He argued that local law enforcement wasn’t doing enough to protect statues and federal property, including the federal courthouse in Portland.
Critics at the time characterized the executive order — and federal agents use of tear gas and other harsh tactics — as a campaign stunt that inflamed tensions in the lead up to the 2020 election rather than calming them.
The Biden administration revoked the order Friday.
Biden also cancelled a plan to build a garden for hundreds of lifelike statues of historical and pop cultural figures approved by the former president in his last week office.