SEATTLE – U.S. Custom and Border Patrol agents have been sent to Seattle reportedly to protect federal property and Mayor Jenny Durkan says she has been told they won’t confront protesters like federal authorities have done in Portland.

Law enforcement officials told The Associated Press that the agents with U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Special Response Team will be on standby in the Seattle area to help fellow federal law enforcement officials. The agents’ arrival comes after multiple Seattle businesses were vandalized during protests, and with more protests planned for this weekend.

U.S. Attorney Brian T. Moran with the Federal Courthouse in Seattle issued a statement Friday regarding the presence of the agents. It reads, in part:

“I want to be very clear regarding the role of federal agents summoned to Seattle.  They are here to protect federal properties and the important work that occurs in our courthouses and federal buildings.

These are the places where federal judges decide cases and controversies, including those filed by protestors against the City, where social security benefits are processed, citizenship is made possible, and where the rights of the accused are protected.

Last weekend, the Nakamura Federal Courthouse was broken into, a smoke bomb and an American flag were burned, and the building was tagged with graffiti inside and out. These actions were not peaceful protests that my office and the Constitution works to protect.

The people who attacked this building, a building where wrongs are righted and disputes are settled according to the rule of law, are not protesting anything; they seek only to disrupt and destroy.

I and my colleagues are reaching out to community leaders with one message: Let’s not let the violence that has marred the Portland protests damage peaceful movements here for a more just society.

These federal agents will join our usual law enforcement staff to safeguard our federal buildings. My hope is our community will speak with one voice to discourage those who seek to hijack peaceful protests with damage and destruction.”