A federal judge in Oregon on Sunday blocked the Trump administration from deploying the National Guard to Portland, saying she “found no credible evidence” that protests had spiraled out of control before the president federalized the troops.
The ruling, from U.S. District Court Judge Karin Immergut, came after a three-day trial over whether demonstrations outside Portland’s ICE building met the legal standards for calling up troops. Immergut noted that most violence appeared to be between protesters and counter-protesters, with no “significant damage” to the facility. She wrote, “Based on the trial testimony, this Court finds no credible evidence that during the approximately two months before the President’s federalization order, protests grew out of control or involved more than isolated and sporadic instances of violent conduct that resulted in no serious injuries to federal personnel.”
The Trump administration has argued that federal forces are needed to protect personnel and property, describing Portland protests as a “rebellion” or “danger of rebellion.” But witnesses testified that they were “surprised” by the deployment and had not requested troops. Local authorities say they have been able to manage the demonstrations, which have dwindled in size since June.
Oregon Senior Assistant Attorney General Scott Kennedy said, “without minimizing or condoning offensive expressions” or certain instances of criminal conduct, “none of these incidents suggest … that there’s a rebellion or an inability to execute the laws.”
The decision marks another setback for the administration in its ongoing push to federalize troops in Democratic cities, including Chicago, as legal battles over the limits of presidential authority continue.
