Oregon argues feds inflamed protests as troop deployment trial set to begin in Portland
FILE — A group of around 100 or more Portlanders organized a rally against federal deployment of troops to the city at Elizabeth Caruthers Park on Saturday afternoon with a few speakers, followed by a march over to the ICE facility in South Portland. After being outside of the facility for around an hour, federal officers deployed what seemed to be a mixture of tear gas and pepper balls onto the crowds in front of the building. (Felisha LeCher/ KATU News, file)
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A federal trial over whether President Donald Trump can deploy the National Guard to Portland is set to begin Wednesday, with local law enforcement expected to testify that federal agents at the city’s U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building have escalated protests in recent weeks through the use of excessive force.
U.S. District Court Judge Karin Immergut, a Trump appointee, will preside over the trial. The lawsuit, filed by the city of Portland and the state of Oregon, seeks to block the troop deployment.
Immergut has already issued two temporary restraining orders halting the National Guard deployment, citing that Trump had not met Congress’s legal conditions for using military forces domestically. She described the president’s characterization of Portland as “war-ravaged” as “simply untethered to the facts.”
Last week, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Court of Appeals paused one of Immergut’s orders, but late Tuesday, the court vacated that decision and announced it will rehear the case before an 11-judge panel.
The case is part of a broader pushback from Democratic-led cities, including Chicago, which are challenging Trump’s use of military forces in response to protests. Plaintiffs argue the president has not met the legal requirements for domestic troop deployment, and that such actions infringe on states’ rights. The administration contends the National Guard is needed because protests have interfered with federal law enforcement operations.
Police and federal officers throw gas canisters to disperse protesters near a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland, Ore. on Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
A federal officer, right, pulls a gun on a vehicle entering the ICE facility in South Portland on Monday night, Oct. 13, 2025, while another federal officer, left, indicates for him to stand down. (KATU)
Portland’s ICE building outside downtown has been the center of nightly protests, which peaked in June when police declared one demonstration a riot. Smaller clashes have continued, with federal officers firing tear gas to disperse crowds that have included counterprotesters and livestreamers. During the trial, witnesses will testify for both sides under cross-examination, including officials from ICE, the Defense Department, and the Federal Protective Service, which provides security for federal buildings.
The administration maintains that Department of Homeland Security agents had to be diverted from other parts of the country to respond to Portland protests, demonstrating the need for National Guard support, one of the conditions Congress requires for domestic deployment. Officials have also described the protests as a “rebellion” or “danger of rebellion,” another legal criterion.
Meanwhile, the city and state argue federal officers have used force in ways that appear “needless and arbitrary,” including repeated use of tear gas and pepper balls against small numbers of nonviolent protesters, sometimes without de-escalation efforts. Portland police have also been affected, reportedly gassed and struck with crowd-control projectiles on at least one occasion.
The Trump administration contends Portland police have been “unhelpful and at times hostile,” arguing that local authorities failed to assist federal officers when requested. Portland police say they enforce the law while respecting protesters’ First Amendment rights.
The lawsuit also highlights poor coordination between federal and local authorities. According to the plaintiffs, federal agents arrived at the ICE building “without a clear command and control structure,” resulting in at least one incident where a federal officer fired pepper balls toward a Portland police officer, responding, “help or get out of the way.”
Similar clashes between local and federal forces have occurred in Chicago, where police were exposed to tear gas deployed against protesters.
About Post Author
You must be logged in to post a comment.