Mayor wants feds out, US attorney says they'll stay

People demonstrate near a courthouse in Portland on Monday night. Pic/AFP

The mayors of Portland and six other US cities on Monday appealed to Congress to make it illegal for the federal government to deploy militarised agents to cities that don't want them.

"This administration's egregious use of federal force on cities over the objections of local authorities should never happen," the mayors of Portland; Seattle; Chicago; Kansas City; Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Washington wrote to leaders of the US House and Senate.

Video from early Tuesday showed law enforcement officers filling a street with gas to disperse protesters. Several loud booms could be heard. Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler called for a meeting with Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf to discuss a ceasefire and removal of federal forces.

Earlier in the day, US Attorney Billy Williams said militarised officers would remain in Portland until attacks on a federal courthouse cease, and that more officers may soon be on the way.

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates.

Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever