Fox legal analyst attacks Trump officials for 'inciting' violence: 'Political dissent is part of our heritage'

On Tuesday's edition of Fox News' "Your World with Neil Cavuto," senior legal analyst Andrew Napolitano — a former judge and libertarian-leaning frequent critic of the Trump administration — laid into federal officials for "inciting" violence in Portland, Oregon.

Contrary to their mission of defending federal property, Napolitano argued, many of the agents were "nowhere near the courthouse disrupting freedom of speech" and that it is a problem "for them to go out stirring things up in the street."

“It is an unorthodox way to express political opinions in the middle of the night in the area where nobody lives,” said Napolitano. “But political dissent is part of our heritage and our culture and it is how the country began ... I do think they have incited more than what ordinarily would be the case primarily because of their continuous hour-long barrages of tear gas. It is a very serious form of tear gas.”

Napolitano has repeatedly sounded the alarm on the Trump administration's use of federal officials to quell protests, last week warning that it is "unlawful, unconstitutional, and harmful."

In the face of public outrage, the administration is moving forward with plans to deploy more federal agents to cities around the country.