Oct. 4 (UPI) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth considered deploying the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division to Portland, Ore., amid ongoing violent protests by Antifa and others.
Deputy Homeland Security Investigations Adviser Anthony Salisbury exchanged messages in a “crowded, public space” that indicated he was considering sending the elite paratroopers to Portland to address what President Donald Trump has called “lawless mayhem,” The Minnesota Star Tribune and The Guardian reported.
The Star Tribune obtained images of the messages that it says were exchanged last weekend.
Instead of deploying the airborne unit, the Trump administration has deployed National Guard troops to Oregon’s largest city, where Antifa militants have protested and at times rioted and attacked an Immigration and Customs facility, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
“Antifa and other left-wing extremists have shot, attacked, issued death threats against and incited riots against law enforcement,” DHS Assistant Sec. Tricia McLaughlin said in a Sept. 26 news release.
“But Antifa and their friends haven’t stopped us,” McLaughlin added. “They’re not even slowing us down.”
The DHS release says rioters in Portland have “repeatedly attacked and laid siege to an ICE processing center” and accused the Rose City Antifa cell of illegally doxing ICE officers by publishing their private information and home addresses online and on publicly distributed flyers.
Justice Department investigating Portland cops, officials
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Friday announced the Justice Department is investigating the Portland Police Bureau and city officials for potentially selective law enforcement, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported.
The announcement came after Portland police arrested conservative journalist and influencer Nick Sortor and two others for alleged disorderly conduct outside the ICE facility in Portland.
Local police arrested Sortor “after he was ambushed by Antifa and was defending himself from these assaults.” Leavitt told media.
Portland police are accused of ignoring a violent attack that injured The Post Millennial reporter Katie Daviscourt when an alleged Antifa member struck Daviscourt’s head with a flagpole on Tuesday night but allowed the assailant to leave without being arrested or charged.
Local police also are accused of ignoring ongoing protests that have been violent at times throughout the summer and despite continued complaints from local residents.
Instead, the Portland City Council is considering closing the leased ICE facility for alleged use violations, including keeping detainees for more than a day.
“We note a consistent theme in these three allegations — all three would choose one viewpoint over another,” DOJ civil rights attorneys Harmeet Dhilon and R. Jonas Geisseler said in a memo, as reported by OPB.
The DOJ attorneys requested bodycam footage and documentation regarding Sortor’s arrest and the attack on Daviscourt.
Federal investigators also want city records regarding city officials’ decision to enforce alleged zoning law violations at the ICE facility as a means to eventually force it to close.
Portland’s Rose City Antifa is one of the nation’s leading “anti-fascist” cells and among those the DOJ is investigating.
Antifa members convicted of RICO Act violations
President Donald Trump on Sept. 22 designated Antifa a domestic terrorist organization, which he also threatened to do amid ongoing riots and violence in Portland and across the country in 2020.
Despite Antifa’s attempts to remain decentralized, 11members of a cell in Southern California were convicted and sentenced to up to five years in prison for “violent criminal acts committed during a demonstration in Pacific Beach,” San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan announced on June 28, 2024.
The convictions include several for Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act violations.
The Antifa members in January 2021 posted and responded to a social media post calling for a counterprotest and “direct action” against a planned conservative political demonstration in Pacific Beach.
They showed up dressed in black clothing and protective gear and armed with weapons and engaged in violent attacks on others, according to the San Diego County Office of the District Attorney.
Eleven afterward were indicted on a total of 29 felony charges that included conspiracy to commit a riot, use of tear gas, assault with a deadly weapon and assault by means likely to produce great bodily harm, in addition to RICO charges≥
Nine of those charged pleaded guilty, while two others were convicted during jury trials.
