As the federal government cracks down on protests in Minnesota, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has told its officers they must undergo more crowd-control training that opens the door to using chemical munitions against demonstrators, according to a memo obtained by HuffPost.
CBP, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security, is responsible for safeguarding the country’s borders and ports of entry, but has taken a leading role in the crackdown in Minneapolis.
Under the plan, many current CBP employees would need to attain a higher certification in what’s known as “mobile field force training,” according to the memo. The certification requires a three-day training on how to handle the kind of civil unrest that isn’t common at ports or borders but is fast becoming a basic feature of the White House’s urban immigration operations.
The advanced training is a prerequisite for using pepper balls and tear gas canisters — as opposed to just pepper spray — provided officers attain additional certifications.
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