Black Federal Officer Patrick Underwood assassinated in California, second fighting for his life

Black Federal Officer Patrick Underwood assassinated in California, second fighting for his life

Black Federal Officer Patrick Underwood assassinated in California, second fighting for his life

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OAKLAND, CA – We’ve now learned the identity of the federal officer who was shot and killed in Oakland, California Friday night.

Patrick Underwood, 53, was “assassinated” while trying to keep the peace amid the violent riots sweeping California and the rest of the U.S.

The riots obviously come in the wake of George Floyd’s death in Minnesota.

Now officials at the Department of Homeland Security have confirmed that the officer’s death was related to the riots in Oakland.

A second officer was reportedly wounded and is fighting for his life, listed in critical condition.

ABC7 reports according to federal officials, the two were at the Ronald Dellums Federal Building on Clay Street when a vehicle approached just before 10 p.m.

Officials say that someone in the vehicle opened fire on the contract security officers.

Over the weekend, federal officials said the officers were watching over the protests when the shooting occurred.

The officer’s sister confirmed Underwood’s death in a message on social media:

“My brother, Dave Patrick Underwood, a federal officer, was murdered 5/29/20 in Oakland California, while on duty during the riots. This Violence Must Stop.”

On Saturday in a news conference in Washington, DHS Acting Secretary Chad Wolf called the slaying of the officer an assassination.

“As of late we have witnessed an outright assault on our law enforcement community,” Wolf said.

“Last night in Oakland, California, an assassin cowardly shot two Federal Protective Service contractors as they stood watch over a protest.

One officer was killed, the other is in critical condition…Let me express my deepest condolences to the family members of these two FPS contractors.”

Ken Cuccinelli is the acting deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.  He also called acts like the Oakland shooting an “act of domestic terrorism.”

“Let me be clear,” he said. “When someone targets a police officer or a police station with an intention to due harm and intimidate that is an act of domestic terrorism.

Fighting terrorism was the very reason for the founding of the Department of Homeland Security. And I said earlier we will stand behind out law enforcement officers here in the department and all over America.”

Gov. Gavin Newsom – who has a strained relationship, at best, with law enforcement – expressed his condolences to the slain officer’s family.

“This is a moment of pain for our state and nation,” he said.

“We are also mourning the tragic loss of a federal security officer and wounding of another in Oakland. Jennifer and I send our sincere condolences to their families, friends and colleagues.

No one should rush to conflate this heinous act with the protests last night. A federal investigation is underway, and we should let that process play out.”

Yet the media will tell you that these are simply peaceful protestors.  Just look at what happened in Florida Saturday night.

An officer had his neck slashed and is reportedly fighting for his life after a violent attack on a number of officers in Jacksonville, Florida Saturday night.

According to Mayor Lenny Curry and Sheriff Mike Williams, about 1,200 people showed up for the protest.

 

It started around 3 p.m. and Williams said there was “really good cooperation” from the organizers.

That quickly changed.

By about 6:30 p.m. a group of about 200 people “hung around” and began to confront police.

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“They attacked several police officers. They vandalized several police cars, attempting to light them on fire, breaking windows,” Williams said. “We have one officer who was stabbed — was slashed in the neck and is currently at the hospital.”

He said this isn’t over yet.

“All this ends when these rioters go home,” Williams said. “This is a small group that stuck around to create chaos.”

The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office used a crowd deterrent to try and break up the large groups.

Mayor Curry said he hoped for a peaceful day.

“I watched it. There were some kids out there making their voices heard, respectfully, and then they left and the folks that are left are — it’s not about peaceful protest. It’s not about reform. It’s not about change. It’s about violence,” Curry said.

“Police officers have been attacked, and we’re not going to tolerate it in our city. We’re not going to let them burn our city to the ground.”

He said in regards to whether a curfew might be imposed – “not at the moment” but that authorities “will talk about it.”

Further south, Miami-Dade County is the latest city to end up under curfew from 10 p.m. until 6 a.m. Saturday.

This comes as “peaceful protests” turned into complete anarchy.

Here’s a bit of what’s going on.

A SWAT Team showed at Bayside on Biscayne Boulevard after widespread looting began.

A group had stopped traffic on Interstate 95, creating potentially deadly conditions on the highway.  Then others gathered in back of the City of Miami police department, challenging officers in riot gear who held the line.

At around 7:45 p.m. near the police department in Miami, people began throwing rocks and firecrackers at officers, who responded with tear gas.

Across the city, groups of teenagers jumped onto police cars and set fire to vehicles.

Cruisers were set on fire on the south side of the Miami police department headquarters.

Other police vehicles under I-95 were vandalized with windows smashed out and heavily damaged.

Officers are also under attack in Chicago tonight.

“Officers are under attack – and it’s going to get worse.  Rioters are coming in by the busload and they aren’t letting us do anything to stop it.”

https://twitter.com/mindofhailey/status/1266897740119891972

Those were the words of an on-duty Chicago police officer tonight, who spoke exclusively to Law Enforcement Today on the condition of anonymity.

https://twitter.com/mindofhailey/status/1266897740119891972

But the images speak for themselves.

On Saturday night, video footage hit Twitter showing officers violently attacked and dragged through the streets while masked rioters cheered.

The officers fought desperately to get away and protect each other… to no avail.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who has had countless dustups with the police department, held a press conference shortly after 8 p.m.

She said the protests had “evolved into criminal conduct” and imposed a curfew on the city: from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. until further notice.

Lightfoot said she was “disgusted” after seeing protesters use pipes, hammers and other objects to damage property.

“I’m here to call you out for your recklessness,” she said to rioters.

“I’ve seen protesters hurl projectiles at our police department…bottles of water, urine and lord knows what else,’’ she said.

https://twitter.com/_Physicism/status/1266906679473553409

“I want to express my disappointment and really, my total disgust at the number of others who came to today’s protests armed for all out battle.’

Chicago police Superintendent David Brown was also at the press conference.

“We will be taking you into custody when you destroy property,” or burn cars, said Brown. “That’s just facts.”

The crowd numbers grew to more than 3,000 people by 2 p.m. and started making way onto Lake Shore Drive and shut down portions of the roadway.

By 3:30 p.m., hundreds began to turn violent, throwing fireworks, bottles and we’re told gasoline at officers.

Then came the vandalism, as they hit buildings, cars and a bus shelter.

It didn’t take long for reports of injuries to come in, including at a police sergeant who had his arm broken near Trump Tower.

By 4 p.m., the crowds had split into multiple groups, escalating violence against law enforcement.

By 5 p.m., there were at least a dozen calls of 10-1, which is a police emergency, as they worked to control the crowd.

Rioters tried to overturn a Chicago police car.  Others broke out into fights with police officers.

Around 7:30 p.m. at Dearborn and Hubbard streets, a police vehicle was flipped over.

Mayor Lightfoot, of course, seized the opportunity to attack the President.

“It’s not easy when we have a president who is inciting violence.”

“Let’s be better than him,” said Lightfoot.

Watch below as she’s “better than him”.

She made sure to urge people to wear masks while rioting.

We’re tracking the riots all across America this weekend.

Now to Philadelphia, where the violence is exploding.

Saturday afternoon, the Justice for George Floyd rally turned violent as protectors launched attacks on police.

Things started peacefully, with a tribute to Floyd early in the day.

Later in the afternoon, protestors marched down the Benjamin Franklin Parkway to the Art Museum.

Many were holding signs demanding people speak up.

But as they left the iconic Rocky Steps, things started to heat up.

“The demonstrators exercising their first amendment rights at City Hall and the Art Museum did so peacefully,” tweeted Philadelphia police.

“We appreciate their voice and their manner of expression. However, since that time, others have convened in Center City and are committing criminal acts, including vandalism.

Those acts will not be tolerated, and we strongly encourage everyone to refrain from entering Center City. We will continue provide updates throughout the evening.”

Officials now say multiple police vehicles have been torched, including a state police car on Broad and Vine. State police say no troopers were injured in that attack.

As the unrest grew, the Friday’s restaurant building on the parkway was spray painted. 

They also vandalized a statue of former Philadelphia Mayor Frank Rizzo, spray painting it and trying to topple it and light it on fire.

Rizzo served from 1972 to 1980.

He was praised by supporters as tough on crime.

The 10-foot-tall bronze statue is outside the Municipal Services Building, across from City Hall.  It’s not the first time it’s been defaced before and is set to be moved next year.

According to Mayor Jim Kenney, he believes people have a right to gather and police will allow the protest as long as social distancing guidelines are followed.

Essentially, police suggest he wants to avoid the destruction seen in other protests around the country.

Black Lives Matter Philly says it has no affiliation with the noon City Hall protest, but a post on the

However, on the protest’s Facebook page said they will be peacefully protesting the lives that have been lost around the country by taking a knee – an act that took place at the Art Museum steps at 2 p.m.

“I want Philadelphians to know that Commissioner Outlaw and her team are committed to serving our community with fairness and sincerity.

Sometimes we stumble, sometimes we fail, but every day the public servants of this city are working to make Philadelphia safer for all of us to live,” Mayor Kenney said.

“Our commitment to you is that we continue to improve this level of service and everyone is treated with the dignity and respect they deserve.”

In the meantime, earlier on Saturday, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz joined mayors Jacob Frey and Melvin Carter to drop a bombshell report about the “protestors”.

The message was clear – they aren’t from around here.

The trio condemned violent protests in the state and blamed organized outside groups for promoting unrest.

At the same time, they announced they will fully mobilize the Minnesota national guard.

“Lets be very clear, the situation in Minneapolis is no longer in any way about the murder of George Floyd,” Walz said in a press conference.

“The violent unrest has now turned into attacks on civil society, instilling fear and disrupting our great city.”

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey added to the comments.

“I want to be very, very clear: The people that are doing this are not Minneapolis residents,” he said. “They are coming in largely from outside of the city, from outside of the region, to prey on everything we have built over the last several decades.”

Saint Paul Mayor Melvin Carter said every person arrested in Saint Paul last night was from out of state.

“We don’t know these folks,” he said again.

It’s the first time the Minnesota national guard will be mobilized in 164 years.

The governor called the unrest “an organized attempt to destabilize civil society with no regard for civil life or property.”

“That situation can be expected to deteriorate further with these people,” Walz said.

He went on to add that violent protestors are being fed professional tactics in urban warfare by outside groups.

He said recent days have changed everything.

Originally protests were peaceful, but as more people came from outside of the city, they’ve turned increasingly violent in recent days.

“Our great cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul are under assault by people who do not share our values, who do not value life and the work that went into this, and certainly who are not here to honor George Floyd,” Walz said.

“So if you are on the streets tonight, it is very clear: You are not with us.”

Frey continued:

“This is no longer about protesting… This is about violence and we need to make sure that it stops,” Frey said. “We’re in the middle of a pandemic right now.”

Late Friday, the Pentagon allegedly ordered the Army to start preparing active-duty military police units for possible deployment to Minneapolis, Minnesota, in response to the riots ongoing.

Reportedly, soldiers from both Fort Bragg and Fort Drum were among the military bases advised to begin said preparations and poise themselves with the ability to deploy within four hours if ordered to do so.

Other bases that were said to have received similar orders were Fort Carson in Colorado and Fort Riley in Kansas. The difference being that those bases were reportedly given a 24-hour threshold if asked to deploy.

From what was allegedly said by individuals who claim to have close knowledge of the development, New York’s Fort Drum would likely be the first to be deployed over to Minneapolis.

If units are dispatched, hundreds of soldiers would find themselves on the ground in Minnesota under the authority of the Insurrection Act of 1807.

Essentially, the Insurrection Act is the power vested in the president to deploy military forces on American soil in the event a general state of lawlessness is transpiring and state and local police forces can no longer handle the situation.

Minnesota’s National Guard was already activated in response to the riots, but it seems intervention on the Federal level is on the horizon.

This type of response, in terms of potentially using the Insurrection Act, is something the nation hasn’t seen since the 1992 riots in Los Angeles, California. Which, all things considered, these active riots in Minneapolis carry very similar parallels to what took place in L.A. 28 years earlier.

These orders were said to have stemmed from a phone call that President Trump held with the national security advisors back May 28th.

It was said that Defense Secretary Mark Esper and National Security Advisor Robert O’ Brien were among those on the phone call with the president to discuss response options to Minneapolis.

Attorney Brad Moss, who is based out of D.C., stated the following about this potential response:

“If this is where the president is headed response-wise, it would represent a significant escalation and a determination that the various state and local authorities are not up to the task of responding to the growing unrest.”

https://twitter.com/EgyptianWeeknd/status/1266776312909377536

However, White House strategic communications director Alyssa Farah claims that there are no discussions happening about deploying military personnel to Minneapolis.

In an email response to whether there was any merit to the military intervention rumors, Farah wrote the following:

“False: off the record – title 10 not under discussion.”

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Colorado woman uses red flag law against officer who shot and killed her knife-wielding son

Yet, sources are saying that these orders are in fact very real, and exist within a classified system called the Secret Internet Protocol Router. Abbreviated as SIPRNet, this is a communication line used by the State Department and the Department of Defense to transmit classified information.

In a not-so-shocking comparison, Nancy Pelosi’s daughter Christine Pelosi attempted to compare the demonstrations in Michigan about the stay-home orders to that of the riots in Minneapolis: 

“Trump orders military police on alert to go to Minneapolis …. note that he did NOT do this in response to armed insurrection by largely White crowds storming the Michigan capitol.”

Yet, even the most recent demonstration in Michigan about the stay-home order didn’t result in any violence, looting, or burning buildings. The only things that happened at these protests in Michigan over stay-home orders were that people showed up lawfully armed, voiced their opinions, and left. 

What has been happening in Minneapolis has resulted in the city looking like a scene straight out of  Escape from New York – buildings on fire, large and small businesses looted and completely decimated, and violence breaking out. 

The comparisons between the Michigan and Minneapolis has been picking up steam online, but it’s perhaps one of the most ill-conceived comparisons. One started and ended as a protest, the other started as a protest and has morphed into chaos and destruction, several days in a row and in multiple locations around the nation.

Just for the sake of providing an example, here’s a video of a lockdown protest that happened in Michigan earlier in May: 

Now, here are just a few of the myriad of videos showing the aftermath of all the looting, fires, and riots in Minneapolis: 

When looking at all that has happened thus far in Minneapolis, it would hardly be shocking if there were indeed plans to send in military units to restore order to the devastated city. 

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The staff of Law Enforcement Today is comprised of mostly career cops, as well as their avid supporters. Cumulatively, we possess nearly a century of experience in the business of police work. Our backgrounds derive from the East Coast, West Coast, South and Upper Midwest. We are the voice of law enforcement, connecting with our readers throughout the entire country and uniting the Blue Family. We have our finger on the pulse of American Law Enforcement and endlessly support our brothers and sisters who hold the Thin Blue Line.

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