By Tom Ozimek
President Donald Trump said he has ordered troops to deploy to Portland, Oregon, in response to escalating clashes outside federal immigration facilities, vowing to use “full force” if necessary against what he called “domestic terrorists.”
“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,” Trump wrote in a Sept. 27 post on Truth Social.
“I am also authorizing Full Force, if necessary.”
The announcement follows Trump’s Sept. 22 executive order designating Antifa a domestic terrorist organization. In that directive, he described the group as a “militarist, anarchist enterprise” seeking to overthrow the U.S. government and accused its supporters of staging armed standoffs with police, violent assaults on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers, and organized riots.
Trump’s move marked the first time Antifa has been formally labeled a domestic terror group, but the designation is likely to face legal challenges. First Amendment protections historically have limited the government’s ability to ban domestic extremist groups, with courts instead targeting specific criminal acts.
In July, Noem said that assaults against ICE officers were up exponentially, linking the surge to doxxing campaigns run by anarchist and Antifa-affiliated groups in Portland.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said officers and their families have been targeted with online postings of personal information, threatening fliers in neighborhoods, and graffiti at the city’s ICE facility reading “Kill Your Masters.”
“These criminals are taking the side of vicious cartels and human traffickers,” Noem said at the time.
“We won’t allow it in America.”
On Sept. 22, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said that the campaign of threats and violence against ICE agents had intensified, with a 1,000 percent increase in assaults, “and their family members are being doxxed and targeted.”
The ICE facility in Portland has drawn frequent demonstrations that at times have erupted into violence, leaving federal agents injured and prompting assault charges against several protesters. Earlier this month, protesters set up a guillotine outside the site, an act DHS called “unhinged behavior.”
Portland officials, meanwhile, have clashed with the federal government over the same ICE site. The city said last week it would issue a land use violation notice accusing the agency of illegally holding detainees overnight in violation of permit rules. Under Oregon’s sanctuary policies, local police do not enforce federal immigration law.
In early September, Trump said Portland could be one of the next cities where federal troops are deployed in response to crime and unrest.
“Portland, it’s unbelievable what’s going on in Portland. The destruction of the city,” Trump said during a press briefing. Trump’s comments came after a report on anti-ICE protests in the city.
In response to Trump’s remarks, Portland Mayor Keith Wilson said that the city does not need federal intervention.
“Like other mayors across the country, I have not asked for—and do not need—federal intervention,” Wilson said on Sept. 5.
“We are proud that Portland police have successfully protected freedom of expression while addressing occasional violence and property destruction that takes place during protests at the ICE facility in Portland.”
“We anticipate that the site, and the half-block surrounding it, will continue to be a focus of protests,” Wilson added. “Portland will continue to rise to the moment as a proud sanctuary city, taking legal action to stand up for our community and our rights.”
More recently, Trump said in the Oval Office that some kind of operation focused on Portland was in the works.
“We’re going to get out there and we’re going to do a pretty big number on those people in Portland,” he said, describing them as “professional agitators and anarchists.”
Trump has already deployed troops to Los Angeles and federal forces to Washington, and has threatened to send them to Baltimore, Chicago, Memphis, and New Orleans as part of a broader fight against urban crime.
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