The former Republican governor of Pennsylvania and first secretary of Homeland Security, Tom Ridge, has stated that the department was not created to "to be the President's personal militia," according to The Hill.

• His statement comes as President Trump sent federal agents to Portland to help quell unrest in the city that began after the death of George Floyd, an unarmed African-American man killed by a police officer.
• The move has garnered widespread backlash from Democrats and some Republicans, particularly as reports have surfaced of federal agents rounding up protesters and whisking them away in unmarked vehicles.
• Ridge said in a radio interview on Tuesday:

"The department was established to protect America from the ever-present threat of global terrorism. Had I been governor even now, I would welcome the opportunity to work with any federal agency to reduce crime or lawlessness in any of the cities. But ... it would be a cold day in hell before I would consent to a unilateral, uninvited intervention into one of my cities."

• Trump shared that he intends to send agents into other “Democratic” cities, saying on Monday:

“I’m going to do something — that, I can tell you. Because we’re not going to let New York and Chicago and Philadelphia and Detroit and Baltimore and all of these — Oakland is a mess.”

• Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf said in response to the criticism:

"I don't need invitations by the state, state mayors or state governors to do our job. We're going to do that, whether they like us there or not."

Read the full report.