Politics Military is coming to Portland, Trump authorizes “full force” if needed

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DAMN YOU AND YOUR REDDIT LINKS!!!!

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So the wife drives right by the ICE building everyday on the way home. Coming home tonight said that what looked like federal vehicles had that whole area blocked off for 30 minutes. Macadem all backed up.
 
Everything Beagle said:
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I covered dictatorships for CNN. Portland looks eerily familiar

Authoritarianism rarely storms the gates with tanks on Day One. It metastasizes through language. Call dissenters “domestic terrorists.” Declare a “war from within.” Recast protest as invasion. Once that script is established, tyranny follows.

Most Americans lack living memory of despotism. That makes us susceptible to dismissing the warning signs as hyperbole. I studied the dictator playbook during my CNN tenure, and I distinctly recall that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s reign of terror did not begin with barrel bombs. It began by branding Daraa schoolchildren who scrawled anti-regime graffiti “terrorists.” Once protest was redefined as treason, the violence that followed became, in his narrative, self-defense.

Now, Portland is no longer simply my home — a city of roses, food carts and rain-slicked bike lanes — it is a pilot program for normalizing domestic militarization. Helicopters drone above leafy neighborhoods, and armored vehicles idle near federal buildings as a small group of protesters gather outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility. Portland has begun to resemble a domestic occupation and the front line of a war the president insists is already underway, even if, for now, only figuratively.

This week, President Donald Trump told a room of 800 generals and admirals that America’s true enemy is not abroad but here at home. “No different from a foreign enemy.” What was once unthinkable — that American streets might serve as training grounds for soldiers — Trump has now brazenly proclaimed.

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek has sued to block the federalization of roughly 200 Oregon National Guard troops ordered to Portland to “protect federal property.” It is rich, of course, to hear Trump deride Portland as a “war-ravaged” “Third World country,” phrases he spits out as insults, though the script he is following is lifted directly from the strongmen of those very nations.

The parallels abroad are instructive. Vladimir Putin first came to power through an election but would go on to reshape Russia’s constitution before carrying out the eradication of his opponents. Recep Tayyip Erdogan was elected as a nominal democrat and a hopeful reformer but then gutted Turkey’s judiciary before unleashing troops on protesters. Each move was justified as temporary or necessary; rationalized until resistance against the state itself became criminal.

Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro was elected in 2018 and spent his term framing his rivals as a mortal threat to the nation’s survival. It was a campaign that ended in repeated claims of electoral fraud, which spurred supporters to storm Brasília on Jan. 8, 2023. Sound familiar? It should.

Some will argue America’s institutions are too strong to succumb. But Hungary’s Viktor Orban hollowed out his within a decade, and former Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez made light work of abolishing presidential term limits, and reconstituting the Supreme Court until loyalty, not law, governed.

The swift bowing of television networks to government pressure over “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” is anything but benign — it should terrify us. I recall covering news of Bassem Youssef, called “Egypt’s Jon Stewart,” forced into exile after his satire crossed the regime. In America, the same mechanics played out: intimidation, corporate capitulation, then muzzling. (Kimmel came back, not by corporate will, but by public demand.)

As a journalist, and a CNN “fake news” alumnus no less, I do not treat threats as abstractions. I keep my passport within reach and my pen ready, because the history of authoritarianism shows that those who speak and protest seldom receive safe harbor. Democratic backsliding is not a cliff. It is a staircase. Each step feels survivable until the floor disappears.

For now, my life here in Portland still feels blissfully ordinary. Farmers’ markets bustle, children ride bikes and volunteers serve the unhoused, but the city’s quotidian charm feels fragile under a gathering storm.

Today it is Portland. Tomorrow it could be Seattle or Atlanta. Each federal incursion tearing fissures in the bedrock of democracy. What is certain is that authoritarianism crumbles when met with collective defiance. We must assemble, peacefully, but forcefully, online, in courthouses and in the streets, and we must insist that this republic will tolerate no kings.




Amy La Porte: is an Emmy-nominated writer, producer, and former CNN television reporter. She now leads a nonprofit organization and has taught journalism and communications theory at universities in Australia and the United States.

https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/i-covered-dictatorships-for-cnn-portland-looks-eerily-familiar/
 
Look at your young men fighting
Look at your women crying
Look at your young men dying
The way they've always done before

Look at the hate we're breeding
Look at the fear we're feeding
Look at the lives we're leading
The way we've always done before

My hands are tied
The billions shift from side to side
And the wars go on with brainwashed pride
For the love of God and our human rights
And all these things are swept aside
By bloody hands, time can't deny
And are washed away by your genocide
And history hides the lies of our civil wars

D'you wear a black armband when they shot the man
Who said, "Peace could last forever"?
And in my first memories, they shot Kennedy
I went numb when I learned to see
So I never fell for Vietnam
We got the wall in D.C. to remind us all
That you can't trust freedom when it's not in your hands
When everybody's fightin' for their promised land

And I don't need your civil war
It feeds the rich, while it buries the poor
You're power-hungry, sellin' soldiers in a human grocery store
Ain't that fresh?

I don't need your civil war
Ooh, no, no, no, no, no, no

Look at the shoes you're filling
Look at the blood we're spilling
Look at the world we're killing
The way we've always done before

Look in the doubt we've wallowed
Look at the leaders we've followed
Look at the lies we've swallowed
And I don't want to hear no more
My hands are tied

For all I've seen has changed my mind
But still, the wars go on, as the years go by
With no love of God or human rights
And all these dreams are swept aside
By bloody hands of the hypnotized
Who carry the cross of homicide
And history bears the scars of our civil wars

I don't need your civil war
It feeds the rich, while it buries the poor
You're power-hungry, sellin' soldiers in a human grocery store
Ain't that fresh?

I don't need your civil war
No no no no no no no no no no no no
I don't need your civil war
I don't need your civil war
You're power-hungry, sellin' soldiers in a human grocery store
Ain't that fresh?

I don't need your civil war
No no no no no no no no no no no no
I don't need one more war
Ooh, I don't need one more war

No no no, no whoa, no whoa
What's so civil 'bout war anyway?
 
Chris Craig said:
Look at your young men fighting
Look at your women crying
Look at your young men dying
The way they've always done before

Look at the hate we're breeding
Look at the fear we're feeding
Look at the lives we're leading
The way we've always done before

My hands are tied
The billions shift from side to side
And the wars go on with brainwashed pride
For the love of God and our human rights
And all these things are swept aside
By bloody hands, time can't deny
And are washed away by your genocide
And history hides the lies of our civil wars

D'you wear a black armband when they shot the man
Who said, "Peace could last forever"?
And in my first memories, they shot Kennedy
I went numb when I learned to see
So I never fell for Vietnam
We got the wall in D.C. to remind us all
That you can't trust freedom when it's not in your hands
When everybody's fightin' for their promised land

And I don't need your civil war
It feeds the rich, while it buries the poor
You're power-hungry, sellin' soldiers in a human grocery store
Ain't that fresh?

I don't need your civil war
Ooh, no, no, no, no, no, no

Look at the shoes you're filling
Look at the blood we're spilling
Look at the world we're killing
The way we've always done before

Look in the doubt we've wallowed
Look at the leaders we've followed
Look at the lies we've swallowed
And I don't want to hear no more
My hands are tied

For all I've seen has changed my mind
But still, the wars go on, as the years go by
With no love of God or human rights
And all these dreams are swept aside
By bloody hands of the hypnotized
Who carry the cross of homicide
And history bears the scars of our civil wars

I don't need your civil war
It feeds the rich, while it buries the poor
You're power-hungry, sellin' soldiers in a human grocery store
Ain't that fresh?

I don't need your civil war
No no no no no no no no no no no no
I don't need your civil war
I don't need your civil war
You're power-hungry, sellin' soldiers in a human grocery store
Ain't that fresh?

I don't need your civil war
No no no no no no no no no no no no
I don't need one more war
Ooh, I don't need one more war

No no no, no whoa, no whoa
What's so civil 'bout war anyway?
Click to expand...
 
Well they blew up the chicken man in Portland last night now they blew up his giblets too
Down on Macadam they’re gettin’ ready for a fight gonna see what them ICE boys can do

Now there’s trouble busin’ in from outta state and the D.A. can’t get no relief
Gonna be a naked bike ride on the promenade and the city commission’s hangin’ on by the skin of its teeth

Well now everyone gets deported Kristi that’s a fact
But maybe everyone that gets deported someday comes back
Put your makeup on fix your hair up pretty
And meet me tonight in Oregon City

Well I got a job and tried to put my money away
But I got debts that no honest man can pay
So I drew on my bullets "antifa is us"
And I bought us two tickets on that Tri-Met bus

barfo
 
julius said:
I wonder if he realizes his executive orders can't supersede the supreme court of the constitution.
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That’s not solid ground you’re standing on; this would be a juicy case to get rid of 1st amendment protections for oppositional expression.
 
I decided to check out the 24 hour live Ice HQ video feed that KATU is doing.

Looks boring. Nothing happening.

Checked out the chat room.

I know this will come as a huge surprise to you, but it was full of antisemitism and people gargling gargling trumps balls and licking his boots.
 
The Wall Street Journal has released Portland Police reports about what the protesters are doing down around ICE.

WSJ articles are behind a paywall, so I'm going to take the time to copy and paste it for you all to read, but I'm going to break it up into multiple posts.


What’s Really Going On in Portland, According to Police Reports
Protests outside ICE facility were dwindling and ‘low energy’ before Trump called in troops, law-enforcement logs show

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On Sept. 5, President Trump described ongoing protests in Portland as “unbelievable” and “the destruction of the city.”

Later that day, a sergeant from the Portland Police Bureau filed his daily observations of the demonstrations outside an ICE facility.

“Saw 8 people out front and couldn’t even get one of them to flip me the bird,” he wrote. “Very low energy.”

Daily reports from Portland police in the month leading up to Trump’s decision, on Sept. 27, to send federal troops into the city paint a different picture than public statements by Trump and others in his administration.

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The White House has said the ICE facility is “under siege.” Newly released police reports filed in federal court describe how the protests that began in June were dwindling before Trump’s order.

The official logs shed light on the events this September, and how the nightly protests at the ICE facility unfolded.

The Journal reviewed reports for the month of September, leading up to Trump’s order late that month. Below is a timeline of key observations by local authorities, who also cite their regular interactions with the Federal Protective Service, a Homeland Security division that was at the facility.

“Any attempt by The Wall Street Journal to downplay the safety of America’s law enforcement officers after the horrific shooting at the ICE Field Office in Dallas, Texas, and vehicle rammings in Chicago is disgraceful and disgusting,” said Tricia McLaughlin, the assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security. “The fact is that the Federal Protective Service memo from a select few nights does not paint the full picture of these violent riots outside the ICE facility in Portland, Oregon—where violence has been ensuing and escalating for months.”

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Thursday, Sept. 4
Largest number of demonstrators: 20

Federal officials reported that homeless people were being coerced by demonstrators into rattling the gate outside the ICE facility, Portland police said. The Federal Protective Service detained an elderly man “after he asked the agents if he could just come up to the gate and rattle it so the antifa instigators would leave him and others alone.” He was cited and released.

Friday, Sept. 5
Largest number of demonstrators: 8

Speaking to reporters, Trump said he might send troops to Portland. He described the continuing protests in Portland as “unbelievable” and lamented “the destruction of the city.” Police in Portland described the following scene that night:

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Thursday, Sept. 11
Largest number of demonstrators: 20


“Nothing much to note tonight,” a police summary said, describing how a small group of counterprotesters showed up.

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Wednesday, Sept. 24
Largest number of demonstrators: 10

All was quiet at the ICE facility where less than 10 people gathered, according to Portland police. “No assaults, no calls for service,” police said.

Thursday, Sept. 25
Largest number of demonstrators: 20

Trump escalated his attacks on Portland, telling reporters that “nobody’s ever seen anything like it.” Trump said there were professional agitators and crazy people who are trying to “burn down buildings, including federal buildings.” He vowed to do a “pretty big number” on the “people in Portland that are doing that.”

Friday, Sept. 26
Largest number of demonstrators: 15

A small group was observed outside the ICE facility “mostly sitting in lawn chairs and walking around,” according to a Portland police report. “Energy was low, minimal activity. As officers drove through the area the group would often flip us off but as the night went on they stopped acknowledging the police.”

Saturday, Sept. 27
Largest number of demonstrators: 60

Trump posted to Truth Social that he was “directing Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to provide all necessary Troops to protect War ravaged Portland, and any of our ICE Facilities under siege from attack by Antifa, and other domestic terrorists. I am also authorizing Full Force, if necessary.”

That night the demonstrations grew, and federal officials arrested one person for blocking vehicles as they tried to leave the ICE facility, according to Portland police.

Sunday, Sept. 28
Largest number of demonstrators: 200

Wall Street Journal reporter Joe Barrett reported that the Sunday night rally drew a crowd to protest the potential troop deployment. There was a naked woman, a retired manufacturing worker with an “I AM ANTIFA” sign, about six to 12 people dressed in black with covered faces, and signs with message like “F— ICE,” “Release the EPSTEIN FILES! NOW!” and “THERAPY LLAMAS NOT TRAUMA.”

They chanted, drummed and urged passersby to honk before blocking the street entirely. After dark, someone set up a sound system. People danced and sprayed bubbles. Officers in tactical gear would occasionally emerge to push the crowd back for vehicles entering and exiting. At least twice, they pepper-sprayed demonstrators. The smell of pepper spray and marijuana was pervasive.

Portland police say that a vehicle attempted to drive into the crowd that night at one point and was surrounded by demonstrators.

Monday, Sept. 29
Largest number of demonstrators: 40

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Barrett reported that a much smaller group of protesters held signs saying “DUE PROCESS ISN’T OPTIONAL” and “WHAT’S YOUR FAMILY STORY.” A person wearing a chicken suit and stylized American-flag cape appeared to be the ringleader.

Local and state authorities say protests have intensified since Trump’s Sept. 27 post, and more counterprotesters have joined the fray. “The criminal activity in the last couple of days has been counterprotesters having arguments and fights with protesters,” Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek said in a televised interview this week.

Saturday, Oct. 4
On Saturday, U.S. Judge Karin Immergut, a Trump appointee, issued a temporary restraining order blocking the deployment of troops to Portland, citing concerns of federal overreach. In her order, the judge also said, the state provided “substantial evidence that the protests at the Portland ICE facility were not significantly disruptive in the days—or even weeks—leading up to the President’s directive.”

There were sporadic events requiring either police or federal law-enforcement intervention, she wrote, but “nowhere near the type of incidents that cannot be handled by regular law enforcement forces.”

Judge Immergut said Trump’s portrayal of the situation on the ground “was simply untethered to the facts.”

Trump vowed to fight, and the court battle continues. On Sunday, he said “Portland is burning to the ground. It’s insurrectionists all over the place.”

https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy...portland-according-to-police-reports-be02370f
 
julius said:
I decided to check out the 24 hour live Ice HQ video feed that KATU is doing.

Looks boring. Nothing happening.

Checked out the chat room.

I know this will come as a huge surprise to you, but it was full of antisemitism and people gargling gargling trumps balls and licking his boots.
Click to expand...
Daughter and her team land here tomorrow afternoon to play the Pilots and are having their team dinner at The Spaghetti Factory of course. Of ALLLLLL the places in town, her coaches picked THERE! Even if nothing is happening down there, my wife says every now and then those officers are shutting that road down. HA!
 
THE HCP said:
Daughter and her team land here tomorrow afternoon to play the Pilots and are having their team dinner at The Spaghetti Factory of course. Of ALLLLLL the places in town, her coaches picked THERE! Even if nothing is happening down there, my wife says every now and then those officers are shutting that road down. HA!
Click to expand...

And you have to go through gates to park at OSF now.
 
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