Barr readies prison guards, anticipates election protests

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• The BOP and U.S. Marshals are set to send crowd-control personnel to the capital for possible election protests.
• Several officers will be coming from prisons with reported coronavirus risks, raising concerns over the infection’s spread.
• Emery Nelson, the BOP representative, said the preparations are just part of preventive measures should violence ensues.

More than a hundred men from the Bureau of Prisons (BOP), along with some personnel from the Marshals Service, are to be assigned to Washington, D.C., to deal with possible election-related violence, as reported by The Daily Beast with confirmation from the BOP.

The move indicates that the Justice Department is reenacting June’s actions during its response to Black Lives Matter demonstrations. During that time, it picked the Department of Homeland Security officers over the less-familiar Justice Department personnel, supposedly to protect the federal government’s facilities in D.C. Most personnel deployed sported least badges and were seen in military-type gear, intimidating protesters and generated an uproar from the crowd.

BOP West Coast regional director Melissa Rios, on Oct. 29, handed “Deployment Roster” to senior BOP official, Assistant Director Andre Matevousian, which details the utilization of 110 security forces from different federal prisons.

On the said memo, the required personnel must possess tactical exposure in managing disturbances in prison. Many listed officers are from prisons reported with active coronavirus cases, raising the spread of infection to their deployed zones.

While the paper did not specify the areas where the officers will be possibly deployed, a source from the congress confirmed that Justice Department senior officials had requested BOP to have a list of men that are prepared for election-related concerns in Washington, D.C.

Sources from Congress also said that BOP is yet to send personnel to the capital, confirming that the office ordered its men to be ready for a two-week stay in D.C.

BOP spokesman Emery Nelson also told The Daily Beast that the said arrangements are being made as precautionary measures. He added that the same preparations are also implemented for other crucial national events where the security risk is high.

The outlet also reported that the select prison officers are not the only ones gearing up for enclosing election-related demonstrations. Another unit of the Trump administration that dealt with both D.C. and Portland protests, the U.S. Marshals Service, is also ordered to mobilize in response to possible acts of violence to various locations in the country.

Both the Department of Justice and the Bureau of Prisons is yet to comment on this matter.

Source:  The Daily Beast