President Donald Trump has rejected the argument made by Portland and Oregon leaders that federal troops are not needed in the state’s largest city.
“How about Portland?” he said in a speech to military brass on Tuesday. “Portland, Oregon, where it looks like a war zone. And I get a call from the liberal governor, ‘Sir, please don’t come in. We don’t need you.’ I said, ‘Well, unless they’re playing false tapes, this looks like World War II. Your place is burning down.’ I mean, you must be kidding. ‘Sir, we have it under control.’ I said, ‘You don’t have it under control, Governor, but I’ll check it and I’ll call you back.’ I called her back. I said, ‘This place is a nightmare. … it’s one of the worst. It’s brutal.’”
The president might not be watching false tapes, but they’re probably old ones from the 2020 protests and riots that occurred in the aftermath of the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The New Yorker called that period “Portland’s ‘Summer of Rage.’”
Nothing like that is happening now in the Rose City.
Over the past two months, there typically have been about two dozen protesters outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in South Portland each night. They’ve been loud but not violent.
Portland police Chief Bob Day said Monday: “This is one city block … and even the events that are happening down there do not rise to the level [of attention] they are receiving.” He added that video clips are circulating “from months ago and maybe even years ago” that are giving people outside Portland a false view of what it’s like in the city right now.
The Oregonian/OregonLive reported last week that a Portland Police Bureau assistant chief said in recent court testimony that federal officers at the Portland ICE facility were “instigating” clashes with non-violent protesters.
But the Trump administration sees the situation differently.
A press release from the White House on Tuesday announced:
“The Radical Left’s reign of terror in Portland ends now, with President Donald J. Trump mobilizing federal resources to stop Antifa-led hellfire in its tracks. While Democrat politicians deny reality, 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.”
This is a developing story.
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