Portland protests: Navy veteran attacked by federal agents says he fears their actions will inspire copycats

'If the federal government can do that, anybody can go to the store and buy... used combat fatigues,' Christopher David says

A Navy veteran who was hit with batons and sprayed with tear gas in Portland by federal agents has said he fears their actions will inspire copycats across the country.

Christopher David, 53, was thrust into the limelight after a video went viral on Saturday evening showing himself being attacked by federal agents.

"I was enraged simply because I did not think they were taking their oath of office seriously or they were compromising their oath of office," Mr David told The Independent previously. "So I actually went down because I wanted to talk to them about it."

Federal agents repeatedly hit Mr David with batons while he stood in front of them, with one hit even landing right on the knuckles of his right hand. The man, who served in the Navy for over eight years, was then sprayed with pepper spray before he finally stepped away from the agents.

When speaking to ABC News, Mr David showed the cast now on his right hand after he sustained two fractures from the hit. But the man confessed to feeling slightly embarrassed by the injury and how much attention he's received from news outlets.

"I was an old white guy that got beaten down," he told the network. "If I had been a black veteran that had gotten beaten down, do you think I would have gotten as much attention as I did?"

One concern Mr David had was that the footage showing federal officers using violent force against protesters could inspire copycats.

"I was very concerned about that because if the federal government can do that, anybody can go to the store and buy... used combat fatigues, get an unmarked minivan, and then go off and abduct people off the streets. And we won't know if that's the federal government or just some civilians playing dress-up," he told the network.

Multiple sources confirmed to The Independent that federal officers driving unmarked vans have seized people off the streets. People have also been arrested without being read their rights or officers identifying what federal office they were representing.

State and local officials raised concerns about these federal officers in the city because there appeared to be no rules about what force they can and cannot use against demonstrators.

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, who was pepper sprayed at a protest on Wednesday evening, even ordered the Trump administration to remove the officers, calling them "a direct threat to democracy". But the administration has not budged.

Now Donald Trump has threatened to deploy federal officers to other parts of the country where protests continue, including Chicago and New York.

"You bet that what is happening in my hometown won't stop at my hometown," US Senator Ron Wyden told Business Insider. "Trump has already made clear he wants to expand this gross abuse of power into other cities."

The Trump administration called for 35 federal agents to be deployed to Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Wednesday.