Portland ‘does not require’ National Guard intervention following protests, mayor says

In a statement responding to

Saturday protests

, Mayor Keith Wilson pledged that Portland police will uphold the law in the city, but will “not be used as agents of ICE.”

He also broadcast that Portland “has not requested and does not require” intervention from the National Guard and said the city would fight unwarranted federal intervention in court.

Wilson applauded the peaceful protests by tens of thousands of Portlanders who took to the streets early Saturday and “raised their voices against federal overreach,” as part of a

national “No Kings” rally

on President Donald Trump’s 79th Birthday.

Tens of thousands of people protested against President Donald Trump as part of the nationwide ‘No Kings in America’ protest movement on Sat., June 14, 2024.

Edwin Nunez

As for the evening

demonstration

near the ICE facility, which Portland police classified as a riot on Saturday evening, Wilson said that Portland police officers monitored demonstrations and stepped in to make “targeted arrests when they had probable cause of criminal behavior.”

Several hundred people gathered at the South Waterfront ICE office on Saturday evening, some of whom hurled water bottles and fireworks at federal officers. Federal officers deployed smoke, tear gas, flash grenades and other projectiles in return. The Portland Police Bureau

said on Sunday morning

that it had arrested three people. Two of them face charges related to assaulting an officer.

Part of Wilson’s statement appeared aimed to head off any threat of intervention from the National Guard following President Donald Trump’s deployment of those troops and members of the U.S. Marine Corps to intervene in immigration protests in California:

“Deploying military troops to the heart of an American city, as the administration has in Los Angeles, is an unwarranted, unprecedented, and unconstitutional action,” it said. “If we witness federal abuse following this incident or any other pretext, we will bring it to light, take legal action, and take the fight to federal courts, where we will prevail.”

Wilson’s Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Zajonc said Sunday that the statement was broadly in response to threats by the Trump administration to send the National Guard to other cities. Border czar Tom Homan

told the Washington Post

that the president would consider using the National Guard on a “case-by-case basis,” to quell protests that “get out of hand.”

A spokesperson for Gov. Tina Kotek said over text on Sunday that the governor’s office has not received any threats of federal intervention with the Oregon National Guard in response to Saturday’s protest.

Kotek on Monday took a firm stance against Trump’s intervention in California last week, saying it represented “an alarming disregard for the safety of Americans and their ability to govern themselves.”

She said that she had no plans to mobilize the Oregon National Guard to weekend protests and said that the president did not have the

authority to override her.

“The president’s unlawful actions undermine our local authorities, who should be able to do their jobs without a federal intervention escalating and inflaming the situation,” she told reporters last week.

But Portland is clearly on the federal radar.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security posted twice about Portland on social media this weekend. On Saturday evening, the agency circulated a picture of what one social media user identified as flyers on a telephone pole in Portland revealing the names, photos and addresses of local ICE agents.

“The violent targeting of law enforcement in Portland, OR by lawless rioters is despicable and its leaders must call for it to end,” Homeland Security officials wrote in the post.

In a second post on Sunday morning, the agency accused Portlanders of injuring four officers after “launching fireworks, hurling smoke grenades and throwing rocks at federal law enforcement.”

“You will not stop us or slow us down,” the agency wrote. “If you lay a hand on a law enforcement officer, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

Violent rioters in Portland, OR stormed an ICE facility after launching fireworks, hurling smoke grenades, and throwing rocks at federal law enforcement.

Our heroic law enforcement secured the facility. Four officers were injured.

Secretary Noem’s message to the rioters is…

pic.twitter.com/9bXdgz6c8P

The Department of Homeland Security could not be reached Sunday to respond inquiries about any injuries to federal officers.

Wilson’s statement said

that said city police were made aware of at least three federal officers injured on Saturday, but that none required medical treatment.

Sami Edge covers higher education and politics for The Oregonian. You can reach her at


sedge@oregonian.com


or (503) 260-3430.

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