Most Portlanders are having a good laugh over Trump’s declaration that we’re living in a “war ravaged” city. There are all sorts of hilarious memes populating my social media feeds, and friends from out of town have shared some funny stuff, as well. Portland is known for its liberal and often kooky residents who would choose love over hate any day - and peace over war, too. Admittedly, Portland suffered “bigly” during the BLM protests, but the city has worked hard to get back its mojo. Crime rates are down. The city is starting to look like it might come back (yes, we have an unusually large number of houseless people and many empty storefronts which makes parts of the city feel sketchy at best). I remember Trump saying that Portland was "burning down" during those months of rioting. Now he’s saying it’s “like living in hell” here, and he’s vowed to put 200 members of the National Guard on our streets “to protect U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other U.S. Government personnel” carrying out the actions of the administration.
Trump has referred to “weeks of violent riots at ICE facilities” and the “threat of domestic terrorists attacking law enforcement.” None of that has taken place here. Portland’s Democratic leaders agree that Trump’s characterization of the situation is way off base and have told him no federal troops are needed. His response: “Everyone knows Portland has been an unmitigated disaster for years. I won’t let that happen in America!” The mayor and the governor believe, as many do, that the presence of troops will only rile people up, provoking them to take the bait and become the people Trump claims them to be. You know, to prove him right, because we all know he never admits to being wrong about anything. Kudos to Oregon and the city of Portland for filing a federal lawsuit, stating that the administration has acted unlawfully by proposing interference. Oregon’s governor, Tina Kotek, has told the administration “Oregon is doing just fine.”
There has been a handful of protesters wearing ski masks and sunglasses camped outside the ICE Building for a few months now. They’ve been peaceful… just exercising their right to speak out against the administration’s immigration policies. Now that there are more and more agents from Homeland Security showing up, more and more concerned citizens are joining in - people of all ages who feel the need to demonstrate against Trump’s proposal to bring troops to Portland.
I went to the ICE building this afternoon. The crowd during the day stays relatively small, but once the sun goes down the number of protestors swells somewhat. (I remember the same thing happening during the BLM protests.) When I got there around 4:00, there were maybe 30 people standing outside the facility. Some were holding signs, trying to get the drivers passing by to honk their support. Two people were yelling at the Homeland Security agents, a few of whom were standing on the other side of the fence. There were a few Portland police officers across the street, and they were keeping their distance. I talked to one of the cops, and he was very good natured about the whole thing, emphasizing the fact they will not/ cannot get involved with the actions of the federal agents. They just want to make sure none of the protestors get hurt.
So, it was a pretty chill scene with folks simply milling about. Lots of people wanted to pet my dog and were commenting on how sweet she is. I was talking to a guy dressed as a chicken wearing an American flag cape (hey, it’s Portland) when suddenly a phalanx of about 25 agents came out of the building and marched in lockstep toward the crowd. They pushed their way through the small gathering of people, telling people to move. Move where? Why? It was confusing, and things were suddenly very chaotic. They held shields in front of their bodies as if we were armed. It was scary as hell for 30 seconds or so as they forced their way through where we were standing. It made absolutely no sense to me. After they were done pushing and pointing and calling out to people to move, they formed a phalanx again and walked in lockstep (backwards) toward the building, disappearing as quickly as they had appeared.
Last week during a press briefing Trump said, "Take a look at Portland. These are wild people. These are crazy people, and they are trying to burn down buildings. We are going to get out there and we are going to do a pretty big number on the people in Portland. You go out to Portland, people die out there. Many people have died over the years in Portland. Portland is – I don’t know how anyone lives there. It’s amazing. But it’s anarchy out there, and that’s what they want." Of course, that's what HE wants.
Apparently Trump spoke with Governor Kotek over the weekend. He had this to say about their conversation: "I spoke to the governor, she was very nice. But I said, 'Well wait a minute, am I watching things on television that are different from what's happening? My people tell me different.' They are literally attacking and there are fires all over the place...it looks like terrible."
So, we wait to see what happens.
It's easy to see how this could become a huge disaster if 200 troops descend upon the city.
