Portland Mayor tear gassed after joining protestors to address presence of federal agents

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler was tear gassed early Thursday morning while he joined crowds of protesters following several violent clashes between protestors and federal forces.

"It stings. It's hard to breathe. I can tell you with 100% honesty I saw nothing that provoked this response," said Wheeler. 

The Trump administration recently sent in federal forces to protect federal property from protesters who have been demonstrating in the Oregon city for more than 50 days. 

Wheeler, a Democrat, addressed the forces in the city, saying that he, in addition to other state and local leaders, are opposed to their presence. 

"It is an unconstitutional occupation. The tactics that have been used by our federal officers are abhorrent. They did not act with probable cause, people are not being told, who they are being arrested by, and you're been denied basic constitutional rights," the mayor said to the crowd. 

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, said that Wheeler had communicated to him that the violence and protests in his city had begun dying down and that the use of federal agents has "done nothing but stir that up."

On Wednesday evening, the Portland City Council voted unanimously to end of any cooperation between the Portland Police Bureau and federal agencies charged with protecting federal properties.

The U.S. attorney for Oregon recently called for an investigation into why some protesters had been taken by federal agents without badges and placed in unmarked vehicles.