State and city officials have filed a lawsuit to block President Donald Trump from deploying Oregon’s National Guard to Portland.
Trump announced Saturday he would send troops to Oregon’s largest city to handle “domestic terrorists.” He said protests were interfering with immigration enforcement.
Two hundred members of the Oregon National Guard were being placed under federal control and deployed to protect immigration enforcement officers and government facilities, according to a War Department memo received by state leaders on Sunday.
Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield then announced the lawsuit, filed in federal court in Portland, against the Trump administration. He said the suit was filed because Trump was overstepping his authority.
“Oregon communities are stable, and our local officials have been clear: we have the capacity to manage public safety without federal interference,” Rayfield said, KGW reported. “Sending in 200 National Guard troops to guard a single building is not normal.”
The court filing said, “Far from promoting public safety, Defendants’ provocative and arbitrary actions threaten to undermine public safety by inciting a public outcry,” Politico reported.
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, a Democrat, took to social media during the weekend to say she objected to the deployment in a conversation with the president.
She spoke with reporters during a videoconference shortly after the suit was filed.
“I think this is a sad day for our country, a sad day for Oregon that the president of the United States does not listen to local leaders about what they need,” Kotek told reporters.
“When the president and I spoke yesterday, I told him in very plain language there is no insurrection or threat to public safety that necessitates military intervention in Portland or any other city in our state. Putting our own military on our streets is an abuse of power … Local law enforcement has this under control.”
While the War Department memo did not specifically cite Portland as the target of the proposed deployment, Trump, in a social media post on Saturday, said he directed the Pentagon, at the request of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, “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.”
The state’s attorneys said protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement have been small, usually featuring fewer than 30 people, and that there have been no arrests related to those protests from June until earlier this week, according to Politico.
However, a White House official said the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Portland had charged 26 people, through Sept. 8, with federal crimes tied to an ICE facility in the city. The charges included assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest.
“President Trump is using his lawful authority to direct the National Guard to protect federal assets and personnel in Portland following months of violent riots where officers have been assaulted and doxxed by left-wing rioters. The President’s lawful actions will make Portland safer,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement, Politico reported.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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