President Donald Trump has sent federalised troops from California to Oregon after a court denied his attempt to deploy the National Guard in Portland.
The deployment circumvents a judge’s order that blocked deploying troops in Portland by instead using National Guard members who were already serving in Los Angeles after summer protests there.
California Gov Gavin Newsom vowed to file a lawsuit over the manoeuvre, which he called a “breathtaking abuse of the law and power”.
Portland is the latest US city – many of which are Democrat-led – targeted as part of the president’s crime crackdown. He has argued troops are necessary to restore peace amid ongoing protests over immigration enforcement.
The Pentagon confirmed 200 members of the California National Guard were reassigned to Portland to “support US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal personnel performing official duties”.
“President Trump exercised his lawful authority to protect federal assets and personnel in Portland following violent riots and attacks on law enforcement,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said.
She attacked Newsom, saying he should “stand on the side of law-abiding citizens instead of violent criminals destroying Portland and cities across the country.”
Over the summer, there were large protests daily in Los Angeles after the city became a target of increased immigration raids. Trump deployed the state’s National Guard to quell the unrest in June, a significant move as deployments are typically the responsibility of a state’s governor. Newsom argued that using the military in Los Angeles was unnecessary and inflamed tensions. Trump said it saved the city from burning to the ground.
The Trump administration redeployed those same troops who were still in Los Angeles to Portland.
“This isn’t about public safety, it’s about power. The commander-in-chief is using the US military as a political weapon against American citizens,” Newsom said after Trump sent the troops to Portland, accusing the president of ignoring courts.
“We will take this fight to court, but the public cannot stay silent in the face of such reckless and authoritarian conduct by the President of the United States.”
Protests have been ongoing in Portland and other cities over the Trump administration’s increased immigration enforcement. Portland, in particular, has long drawn Trump’s ire over its alleged concentration of people his supporters describe as Antifa, short for “anti-fascist”. The president recently signed an executive order designating the group, which is a loosely organised movement of far-left activists, as a domestic terrorist organisation.
The Portland deployment came one day after Trump authorised the deployment of 300 National Guard troops to Chicago to address what he says is out-of-control crime.
Chicago has also seen protests over increased immigration enforcement. On Saturday, protests became violent, with immigration authorities saying they opened fire on an armed woman after she and others allegedly rammed their cars into law enforcement vehicles.
The woman’s condition is unclear, but officials said she drove herself to a hospital.
State and local leaders have decried Trump’s deployment plans there and called it an abuse of power. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said Trump was “attempting to manufacture a crisis”.
On Sunday, Gov Pritzker told CNN that the authorisation of troops there will incite protests. He accused the administration of creating a “war zone” to rationalise the response.
“They want mayhem on the ground. They want to create the war zone so that they can send in even more troops,” he told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “They’re using every lever at their disposal to keep us from maintaining order.”
