The resistance in Portland has held.
A federal judge, ironically appointed by President Donald Trump, has twice blocked the deployment of National Guard troops to Oregon’s largest city.
U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut sided with state and local officials, noting the country’s longstanding tradition of “resistance to federal overreach, especially in the form of military intrusion into civil affairs,” Immergut wrote.
The Trump administration had sought to frame conditions in Portland as disastrous, with the President claiming the city had become a war zone engulfed in flames.
“It’s a burning hell hole,” Trump said.
Immergut said that description was “untethered to facts.”
At issue is an ICE processing facility, in the city’s south waterfront neighborhood, which has been the site of small-scale protests. Conservative social media influencers, portraying the situation on this one block as a reflection of the entire city, have attempted to tie the situation to Antifa — recently designated a domestic terrorist organization.
“ICE officers have to street battle against Antifa, hand-to-hand combat every night,” Stephen Miller, Homeland Security Deputy Chief of Staff, told CNN.
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek quickly dismissed exaggerations of Portland burning to the ground, while commending Immergut’s rulings as a victory for “the integrity of our democracy.”
The judge’s orders, Kotek said, “are a clear and forceful rebuttal to President Trump’s misuse of state’s National Guard.”
On Oct. 7, Kotek directed the demobilization of 200 Oregon National Guard members and the return of 200 California National Guard members, previously federalized by Trump, to California.
“The President can expect Oregon to stand up to him at every turn,” Kotek said.
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