Tag: Secretary of War

President Donald Trump on Saturday authorized sending federal troops to protect “War ravaged Portland.”

It was the latest in a string of comments from the president about threatening federal intervention and inaccurately characterizing what is happening in the city.

“At the request of Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, I am directing Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to provide all necessary Troops to protect War ravaged Portland, and any of our ICE Facilities under siege from attack by Antifa, and other domestic terrorists. I am also authorizing Full Force, if necessary. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

Portland Mayor Keith Wilson again blasted Trump’s threats to send troops in a statement Saturday.

“President Trump has directed ‘all necessary Troops’ to Portland, Oregon. The number of necessary troops is zero, in Portland and any other American city,” Wilson said in the statement. “Our nation has a long memory for acts of oppression, and the president will not find lawlessness or violence here unless he plans to perpetrate it. Imagine if the federal government sent hundreds of engineers, or teachers, or outreach workers to Portland, instead of a short, expensive, and fruitless show of force.”

Gov. Tina Kotek office did not immediately responded to requests for comment.

It’s not immediately clear if or when troops would arrive in Portland, or which branch of the military might be involved.

“We haven’t had an official request at this time,” said Lt. Col. Stephen Bomar, a spokesperson for the Oregon National Guard. “Any request that would come would be coordinated through the governor’s office.”

Feds in Portland

“Trump is launching an authoritarian takeover of Portland in the hopes of provoking conflict in my hometown. I urge Oregonians to reject Trump’s attempt to incite violence in what we know is a vibrant and peaceful city. I will do everything in my power to protect the people in our state,” Sen. Ron Wyden told The Oregonian/OregonLive in a statement Saturday morning.

The president appears to be referring to the ongoing protests outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in South Portland. Those protests peaked in June, but have involved no more than several dozen people in recent weeks.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for details on Trump’s announcement, such as a timeline for the deployment or what troops would be involved.

He previously threatened to send the National Guard into Chicago without following through. A deployment in Memphis, Tennessee, is expected to include only about 150 troops, far less than were sent to the District of Columbia for Trump’s crackdown or in Los Angeles in response to immigration protests.

Portland mayor Keith Wilson and other Oregon leaders gathered Friday to sound the alarm about the apparent increased federal presence at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility south of downtown Portland.

U.S. Rep. Maxine Dexter said in a statement Saturday that Trump’s decision to send troops to Portland “is an egregious abuse of power and a betrayal of our most basic American values.”

“We did not ask for federal agents, and we do not want them. Let me be clear: the Portland we love will not be divided by federal forces,” Dexter said. “Do not take the bait. Stay safe, stay peaceful, and stay together.”

Federal agents have been filmed hitting, shoving and pepper-spraying nonviolent protesters, and more than a dozen demonstrators have reported other alleged uses of excessive force that resulted in massive bruising or injuries. A top Portland Police Bureau official has said in court that federal officers were “instigating and causing some of the ruckus” outside the ICE facility.

But the protests have been a source of frustration for many neighbors in the otherwise residential neighborhood, as Portland police have declined to enforce the city’s noise ordinance at anti-ICE protests. Protesters regularly blast music for hours and loudly hurl insults at federal police.

Julie Parrish, a lawyer and former Republican state lawmaker, represented a Portland woman who lives near the ICE facility and sued over the “onslaught of noise” from protesters this summer.

But Multnomah County Senior Judge Ellen Rosenblum, a former Oregon attorney general, said last month she couldn’t compel officers to intervene.

Parrish said the president’s decision to send federal forces was the result of poor leadership from the city’s mayor.

“They’ve let that area be feral for months and then blame the facility and not the people terrorizing the neighbors,” she said, referring to Wilson and the police bureau.

A protester who said he has been going at least twice a week for the last three months said he was “baffled” by Trump’s announcement.

“How do you label peaceful protesters terrorists in order to send troops against us?” Milo Black said. “We’re not antifa. antifa’s literally just an ideology. It’s not a group.”

This is a developing story and will be updated.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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