14

I've been referred to this medium article, which makes a series of claims about the roll of private contractors in providing crowd control services for Federal Agencies.

Specifically, I am interested in whether the Federal Protection Service is using Triple Canopy "Contract Officers" to control crowds at the protests in Portland, Oregon.

The author, Bill Conroy, seems to be a longtime investigator, journalist, and editor. He links quite a few articles and websites to back up his claims.

I've found some documentation that suggests FPS has recently been contracting Triple Canopy, and that FPS knew or should have known about potential conduct issues with Triple Canopy. Is there evidence one way or another, on whether Triple Canopy or other "Contract Officers" are present and active at the Portland Protests?

Improve this question
3
  • Don't know, but it appears that it's legal anyway: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posse_comitatus
    – user17561
    Jul 30, 2020 at 8:52
  • 2
    @MaxB I'm not particularly interested in the legality of use of Contract Officers, only the nature of their presence and actions in Portland. A Legal act isn't necessarily ethical, just, or wise.
    – Dent7777
    Jul 30, 2020 at 13:22
  • I'm not familiar with this fact checking site, but it seems legit and their conclusion at the moment is "undetermined". truthorfiction.com/…
    – Brian Z
    Aug 24, 2020 at 18:48

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
8

[Disclosure: This answer was written by the author of the Medium article, Bill Conroy.]

The contractor in Portland is revealed in this follow-up story:

Medium: Private Contractor Assisting Feds in Quelling Portland Protests Is Revealed

Triple Canopy is the second leading FPS contractor nationwide by dollar value, per USASpending.gov, but it is a different contractor in Portland. The story digs into that fact.

The contractor is Annapolis, Maryland-based MaxSent — which also does business as CDA Inc., according to a court transcript of a video deposition of Gabriel Russell, a Federal Protective Service (FPS) regional director. The company is licensed to do business in 44 states and also has FPS contracts to provide security personnel to federal properties in at least six states, including Oregon.

The contractor in Portland is revealed in a federal court filing, available through Pacer.

I have provided a screenshot of a snippet of the transcript in a tweet, reproduced below:

Screenshot of transcript

Triple Canopy has contracts in other states with FPS. I am in the midst of the arduous process of lining up which contractors have contracts with FPS in which states currently, via data from public records.

As evidence of Triple Canopy’ role as well see this press release. These contracts normally run five years.

To demonstrate that the author of the original Medium platform (i.e. the author of this answer!) is a genuine investigative journalist:

Improve this answer
5
  • 3
    Thank you for putting in some effort to improve your post. We helped you a bit with formatting and some administrative things (like a disclaimer). We also noticed that it looks like you created two accounts. That is allowed as long as the two accounts never interact with each other. However, you can request to merge your accounts.
    – user11643
    Aug 24, 2020 at 21:46
  • The quoted court filing would seem to suggest a negative answer to the question posed ('in the response to the ongoing George Floyd protests'), specifically the quote: "They [The PSOs] continued to perform their normal duties. They did not have additional duties that were related to operation Diligent Valor."
    – Steven Stadnicki
    Aug 25, 2020 at 18:19
  • I appreciate the work you've put into your articles, and your response here. Thank you for the important work you do. I've accepted your answer.
    – Dent7777
    Aug 25, 2020 at 19:59
  • 1
    @StevenStadnicki the very next paragraph in Bill's linked article lays out that responding to the protests would be part of their normal duties. This does not suggest a negative answer to my original question.
    – Dent7777
    Aug 25, 2020 at 20:02
  • @Ralph It Is kind of cool your read skeptics and found your own story being discussed.
    – GC_
    Aug 25, 2020 at 20:21

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .