Heaven or hell? How you see Portland, Oregon, depends on who you listen to. The president wants Americans to believe that Portland is a war zone, telling Gov. Tina Kotek and military leaders in Quantico that the city looks like World War II.
In a Truth Social post, Donald Trump said he was authorizing “full force, if necessary” to handle so-called domestic terrorists, claiming ICE facilities are under siege by antifa, and protestors have ruined the city and Portlanders are “living in hell.”
Residents of the city paint a different picture, sharing photos of idyllic streets lined with historic Victorian homes, a vibrant community with a thriving farmers’ market and arts scene, upscale shops and bicycle baths for cyclists.
The ground zero, or place of contention, seems to be outside an Immigration and Customs facility in the city’s south waterfront area, situated near a Tesla dealership, that has drawn anywhere from five to 25 peaceful protestors on a given day.
Trump was misled to believe that Portland was currently under siege after video resurfaced on TV from the city when thousands of residents protested the police killing of George Floyd in 2020.
Despite the outdated video being used to justify a military invasion, Trump hasn’t back down. Instead, he has pushed forward with his plans for a federal occupation of the city for a 60-day deployment.
Portland is the latest of Democratic-run cities to be targeted by the president who claims ICE facilities are under attack. Other Democratic cities including Los Angeles, Baltimore, Chicago, Memphis and New Orleans have received similar threats by the president and his administration to militarize troops against U.S. citizens.
“It’s very important because of the crime that’s going on not only in Memphis, in many cities, and we’re going to take care of all of them, step by step, just like we did in D.C.,” Trump said.
In Washington, Trump deployed approximately 2,000 troops, many with nothing to do, so they were assigned to clean up trash; others were armed with rifles and pistols for “security.”
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The situation in DC leads many to fear the tragedy at Kent State could repeat itself again. In 1970, members of the National Guard fired into a crowd of unarmed anti-war student protestors, killing four students and wounding nine others.
On Monday, the governor of Illinois confirmed the Department of Homeland Security is looking to send 100 troops to Chicago.
Today, Attorney General Pam Bondi said 219 officers were “special deputized” and sent to Memphis. The governor of Memphis said the operation would occur in phases and could last months.
Back to Portland
While there were only a handful of protestors prior to the federal siege, community members, including Gov. Kotek, gathered for a walk and rally this past weekend in a peaceful attempt to resist the occupation of the city.
Residents took to the streets, blowing bubbles and wearing deely bobbers, carrying handmade signs that read “No Troops,” “American Gestapo Out,” “Stop Taking Dads” and “Release the Epstein Files.”
Speaking of the Epstein files, U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, a Democrat from, you guessed it, Oregon, continues to investigate the sex trafficking operation despite the president repeatedly calling it a “Democratic hoax.”
Wyden recently introduced the “Produce Epstein Treasury Records Act,” hoping to compel the U.S. Treasury to release financial records related to Jeffrey Epstein. Through access to bank records, Wyden’s team has uncovered evidence of financial misconduct by Epstein to the tune of billions of dollars in an investigation spanning three years.
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Could the 200 troops called up by the Pentagon be retribution against Wyden for refusing to ignore the Epstein files? Many pundits believe yes.
Oregon is fighting back, suing the Trump administration of the federalization of the National Guard and the authoritarian takeover of the city of Portland.
“Oregonians don’t want and don’t need a federal takeover of our state. My message to Donald Trump is this: stay the hell out of our city,” Wyden wrote.
