Federal judge suspends Trump’s national security order for Portland protest
A federal judge will stop President Donald Trump’s National Guard deployment for the second time amid protests.
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump said on October 6 that if a judge stops the deployment of National Guard forces, he may call a Rebellion Act to send troops to U.S. cities.
His statement came as hundreds of California national security guards remain at Portland military bases as President Donald Trump and his Democratic leaders engage in a enthusiastic legal battle over his attempts to deploy soldiers to American cities.
Trump ordered Oregon security guards to move to Portland later last month, but local leaders sued, and federal judges temporarily stopped the deployment. Trump then deployed security forces in California and Texas. The Oregon judge then stopped all federal forces from entering.
A similar standoff is currently being rolled out in Chicago.
Here’s what you need to know about the National Guard deployment:
Trump’s Portland deployment sets a legal battle
According to court documents, Trump’s attempt to chase Portland protesters was on September 28th.
The forces “protect Portland, which was destroyed by the war, and one of our ice facilities is under siege from attacks by antifa and other domestic terrorists,” he wrote in the Social Post of Truth, “use full force when necessary.”
A federal judge temporarily halted the deployment on October 4th after Democrat Gov. Tina Kotek filed the lawsuit.
Trump’s appointee, US District Judge Karin Imargat, ruled that the demonstrations didn’t turn into a “rebellion,” and law enforcement could handle the protest without military intervention.
National Guard Whac-a-mole
The Trump administration then took up a new strategy.
Hours after the judge banned the Oregonian forces, he hit a California security guard and took the same job. According to court documents, about 100 California National Guard personnel arrived at the Portland Air National Guard base on early October 5th, followed by 99 security guards that afternoon. That led California Gov. Gavin Newsom to join the Kotek lawsuit in an attempt to regain control of the state’s military.
The administration has also ordered 400 Texas National Guard members to “perform federal protection duties as needed, including in the cities of Portland and Chicago,” according to a memo signed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegses.
Hegses’ orders to the fallen Texas National Guard, with permission from Governor Greg Abbott, left it clear that troops could be deployed in particular “if necessary.”
Immergut then issued an order and temporarily halted all federal security deployments to Portland.
Trump sued the verdict on October 6, attempting to seize control of those troops.
Joseph Nun, a legal expert at the Brennan Centre, who specializes in deploying the National Guard, said it was at the heart of Imagat’s ruling.
“The fundamental problem with the Trump administration in Portland is that what they’re saying is simply not true,” Nun added.
White House spokesman Karoline Leavitt said of Immergut’s ruling, “With respect for that judge, I think her opinion is ignored in reality and in law.”
“The ice facility is really surrounded by these anarchists outside,” Levitt said. “We are very confident in the legal authority of the President to do this.”
“The Chipocalypse now”
While the fight over Portland unfolded, Trump ordered Chicago to 300 Illinois National Security Guards on October 4th with a similar order. He also threatened Illinois’ development with comments and social media posts. This included reading “Chipocalypse Now” in reference to the Vietnamese war-era film “Apocalypse Now,” depicting the li in the film along with a helicopter flying behind him.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pretzker, Democrat, was sued to halt the rollout on October 6th.
“Let me be clear – Donald Trump is using our military personnel as political props and as pawns in his illegal efforts to militarize the cities of our country,” Pretzker said at a press conference.
Trump deploys military to multiple cities
The Trump administration also sent National Guard troops to Los Angeles and Washington, DC earlier this year. Both developments led similar lawsuits from Democratic leaders.
The country’s capital has deployed more than 2,000 units from the city’s own security forces and other states since mid-August. These troops are assigned to pick up trash and help with the soup kitchen, among other “beautifying” projects. City Attorney General Brian Schwarb filed a lawsuit in early September to end the deployment.
The Trump administration sent around 5,000 California State Guard members and 700 Marines to Los Angeles earlier this year to curb protests against the wave of offensive deportation. All but hundreds of National Guard soldiers – some were sent to Portland over the weekend, but we went home.
The judge later ruled that the deployment was illegal, violating the Posse Comitatus Act and prohibiting it from carrying out law enforcement functions under federal orders. The ruling is still under appeal by the Trump administration.
Trump has also deployed troops to fight crime in Memphis, with the consent of the state’s Republican governor, and has supported immigration enforcement agents at the US-Mexico border.
Trump’s use of the National Guard is “unprecedented”
Nun, from the Brennan Center, said Trump’s National Guard exercise was “unprecedented in American history.”
“The president seems to want the US military to spend more time pointing to Americans to weapons rather than defending them,” he said.
“It’s a dramatic change from the way we’ve always done things in the US,” Nunn said.
