The moms shuffled into position on Sunday night, arms linked, backs to the fence in front of Portlands federal courthouse. The sky had darkened. Behind the fence, anonymous federal agents in fatigues leveled their weapons at the womens backs. The human shield was in place , a barrier against the secret police. The Wall of Moms.

These werent looters or rioters or the anarchists President Donald Trump says hate our country. They werent the violent extremists that acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf has vowed to put down , nor the fabled antifa bogeymen who keep Tucker Carlson up at night. They were just moms, worrying as moms tend to do about kids being beaten and shot and black-bagged in unmarked vehicles. Ready to put their bodies on the line to defend the U.S. Constitution. About 100 of them. Some had never been to a protest before. Some were pregnant.

Outside the federal courthouse, which has become a flashpoint for conflict in the city, they were tear-gassed.