President Donlad J. Trump. Photo under Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0 (No changes made)
This past Friday, President Donald Trump said protesters ruined Portland, Oregon. He also implied he would have the National Guard “wipe them out.” Trump was said to be misled by a video of protests from 2020, likely regarding the Black Lives Matter movement as well as recent anti-ICE protests. He also said Portland was like “living in hell” and called the protesters “paid terrorists.”
Trump has already deployed the National Guard to several major U.S. cities, including Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. He has also recently threatened to send the Guard to Baltimore and New Orleans. Senior U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer ruled that the president had already broken the law with recent ICE raids in Los Angeles, since he has been targeting mostly Democratic cities.
“Contrary to Congress’ explicit instruction, federal troops executed the laws. Defendants systematically used armed soldiers (whose identity was often obscured by protective armor) and military vehicles to set up protective perimeters and traffic blockades, engage in crowd control, and otherwise demonstrate a military presence in and around Los Angeles. In short, defendants violated the Posse Comitatus Act,” Breyer said regarding the raids.
Portland Mayor Keith Wilson responded to Trump’s statement, saying he disagreed with the president’s claims about the city.
“We are proud that Portland police have successfully protected freedom of expression while addressing occasional violence and property destruction that takes place during protests at the ICE facility in Portland. We anticipate that the site, and the half block surrounding it, will continue to be a focus of protests. Portland will continue to rise to the moment as a proud sanctuary city, taking legal action to stand up for our community and our rights,” Wilson said.
