New Delhi: US President Donald Trump has attempted to unleash the California National Security Guard on protestors in what he has termed “war-ravaged” Portland.
The American city is home to an admittedly small but “persistent” group of protestors who, for the past several months, have been seated outside a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) centre. While the protests are relatively small-scale, a report in The New York Times said that “some in the crowd of one or two dozen people there have skirmished with federal law enforcement.” Trump’s crackdown on immigrants has sparked protests across American cities and the US President is hitting back by using federal forces.
For Trump, a mild bout of protests have taken on an entirely different avatar. Via a series of social media posts, he declared that “Portland is burning to the ground” due to “paid insurrectionists.” This is as the protestors themselves, according to images shared on social media, are dressed in pyjamas, with one even wearing a unicorn onesie. They’re sipping coffee, distributing pastries, and have set up shop on lawn chairs.
“The version of Portland described by the president is simply not, as anyone here can see, reality,” said Mayor Keith Wilson. “People are enjoying the great outdoors this weekend. They’re attending sporting events. They’re shopping, they’re eating outside.”
Even so, Portland has long been in Trump’s line of fire, who sees it as a breeding ground for “Leftism” and what he understands as corresponding anti-social activities. But here too, reality manifests differently. Gun violence and homicides have both reduced this year. But, as one protestor has been quoted as saying, “the man just doesn’t like us.”
Comical as it may seem, senior US officials have warned that the consequences of Trump’s imagined violence could be detrimental.
Senator Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, said that Trump “may be replaying the 2020 playbook and surging into Portland with the goal of provoking conflict and violence.”
In 2020, “liberal” Portland erupted into protests following the killing of George Floyd. Trump had then too deployed federal troops –– stoking flames of violence which did little to dim momentum among protestors.
A legal fracas
When it comes to the use of the National Guards to manage protestors, Trump has been engaged in a legal fracas. In June, Trump brought into action a “rarely used law” in response to protests in Los Angeles –– also linked to his immigration policies and raids. California Governor Gavin Newsom filed a lawsuit against the President. His lawyers stated that Trump made “an unprecedented power grab” and “violated the constitution” by sending in the military.
“The trial represents a crucial moment for determining how much power a US president can lawfully exercise over the military on domestic soil. During his first term, Trump had often speculated openly about the possibility of deploying the military on American soil, whether to suppress protests or combat crime,” wrote CNN in August.
When it came to protests in Portland, a federal judge disallowed Trump from bringing in the National Guard. But he was undeterred –– and tried circumventing the order by mobilising the troops in California to be sent to Oregon. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker also said that Trump was “redeploying the Texas National Guard.”
“President Trump exercised his lawful authority to protect federal assets and personnel in Portland following violent riots and attacks on law enforcement,” said White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson.
Meanwhile, California Governor Newsom has stated that he will file another lawsuit, calling the onslaught a “breathtaking misuse of power.”
(Edited by Aamaan Alam Khan)