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Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared in our sister publication, Portland Mercury. We will be posting dispatches from Portland as they become available.
It’s been a whirlwind few days since Portlanders found out about President Trump’s plan to send the National Guard into the city, with a lot of unknowns about what’s happening and when. Much of the information about the impending invasion of Portland has been delivered by local elected leaders, not through official White House communication.
On Tuesday morning, the White House published a press release boasting about Trump’s decision to deploy federal resources to “crush violent radical left terrorism in Portland.” The White House article is light on details about what Portlanders can actually expect to happen on the ground over the coming days. But it does contain more information about Trump’s apparent rationale for sending troops into Portland, as well as a plethora of hyperlinks to far-right media organizations in an attempt to bolster the argument that the “Radical Left” has a “reign of terror” over the city.
“It’s obvious what’s happening in Portland isn’t protest; it’s premeditated anarchy that has scarred the city for years — leaving officers battered, citizens terrorized, and property defaced,” the press release states.
Trump’s decision to narrow in on Portland and its supposed “Antifa-led hellfire” comes amid a national fixation on left-wing organizations and activists. Last week, the president signed an executive order designating antifa as a domestic terrorist organization. The order appears to be partially inspired by Charlie Kirk’s murder earlier this month, which Trump and other Republican politicians have cited, without evidence, as an example of growing political violence on the left.
The recent White House press release elaborates on alleged incidents of “violence in Portland at the hands of Antifa and the Radical Left.” It cites 13 examples over the last nine years, starting right after Trump’s win in the 2016 election. The incidents cited range from murder to minor property damage, some with more veracity than others, all attributed to the anti-fascist movement.
While groups with the antifa moniker have existed, in Portland and elsewhere, Trump uses the term broadly, applying it to a large swath of left-wing groups and individuals. Antifa is a decentralized movement of antifascist activists, many of whom hold different beliefs and theories of political change. The incidents listed in the White House press release occurred over an extended period of time and don’t carry a clear organizational throughline.
When it comes to anti-ICE action in Portland, local progressive groups have been split. There has been a major divide between those who have called for Portland City Council to immediately revoke ICE’s permit to operate in Portland’s South Waterfront and others who have pointed out the challenges in that process.
Tuesday’s White House press release focuses solely on the “radical left” without mentioning incidents of right-wing extremism in Portland and elsewhere. In 2017, two people were killed and one was seriously injured while defending two young women from white supremacist stabber Jeremy Christian on a MAX train. The 2022 shooting at Normandale Park left two people dead at the hands of a right-wing assailant. And, while the federal government has accused protesters of assaulting Department of Homeland Security officers at recent demonstrations in Portland, some federal agents have used violent force on people protesting peacefully.
In his push to send National Guard troops into Portland, Trump has routinely spouted false information and used inflammatory language to describe protesters. Among those critical of Trump’s portrayal of Portland is Portland Police Chief Bob Day, who recently emphasized to reporters that the protests at the ICE facility are isolated to one city block within 145 square miles in the city of Portland.
“Even the events that are happening down there do not rise to the level of attention that they are receiving,” Day said. “We’ve seen Portland portrayed through the events of the lens of 2020, and 2021, and what we’re seeing both from Portlanders and from the Portland Police Bureau is not in line with that national narrative.”
While the Oregon National Guard has begun mobilizing troops in compliance with Trump’s order, it’s unclear if and when Portlanders will see members of the guard on the streets. It was initially reported that troops were expected to hit the streets Thursday, but a more recent update from an Oregon National Guard spokesperson suggests most guard members won’t be ready until next week.
Meanwhile, a lawsuit filed by Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield on Sunday seeks to block the deployment. A judge is set to hear from the state and the US Department of Justice at 10 am Friday, when he is expected to determine whether to grant Oregon a temporary restraining order to block the National Guard from deploying to Portland.
As Trump and Homeland Security leaders continue to portray Portland as a lawless city, local leaders are focused on preventing federal intervention. At a Monday press conference, Portland Mayor Keith Wilson said he and other elected officials believe their primary job at the moment is to “ensure [the deployment] doesn’t occur.” Wilson, Governor Tina Kotek, and other elected officials have been steadfast in their opposition to the decision to send troops to Portland.
More than 15 other Oregon mayors have spoken out in support of Wilson and the city of Portland, and committed to keeping their local law enforcement agencies firmly in the hands of local jurisdictions. A dozen Oregon mayors, several of which are military veterans or have some affiliation with the Oregon National Guard, joined Wilson at Monday’s press conference condemning the deployment.
“I’m not sure there’s been a joint statement quite like this in Oregon, but I’m very glad, and I’m hopeful for the shared purpose,” Wilson said at the press conference. “Our joint statement is a statement of shared values. It asks for clarity and a return to precedent in the role of our armed forces and our federal law enforcement.”
Wilson said the Trump administration’s justification for deploying troops in Portland is “either a misunderstanding or a lie.”
“I hope it is a misunderstanding that we can soon resolve,” he said. “In my moments of doubt, I worry that Portland will go it alone, as we have in the past. When I look around the room today, I know we are more together than we have ever been. By joining together, we can accomplish far more and protect our communities far better than we ever could alone.”