In testimony before an Oregon State Senate Veterans and Emergency Preparedness subcommittee last week, Brigadier General Alan R. Gronewold, the state’s top military official, told lawmakers that National Guard troops “will be protecting any protesters at the [Portland] ICE facility. That’s my desire.”
With many of these so-called “protesters” linked to Antifa, the general is, in effect, saying that National Guard troops, if deployed, would be protecting members of a group the Trump administration has designated as a domestic terrorist organization.
Asked what role the troops would play if federalized under Title X, Gronewold replied:
I don’t want to speculate on what level of training they will receive or what they will be authorized to perform as far as rules for the use of force. The Title X headquarters will provide that training to them.It is my understanding, however, that protective crowd control will be one of the things they’re trained on, and I will provide my advice to the Title X commander.The Oregon National Guard men and women serve two purposes: one, to defend America, and two, to protect Oregonians. So, by serving in this mission, they will be protecting any protesters at the ICE facility. That’s my desire.Now, to answer your question — “full force” is not a doctrinal term that the Army uses, so I’m not sure exactly what that means, and I don’t want to speculate as to what level of force they will be allowed to use.
While Gronewold’s extraordinary remarks may have been music to the ears of state lawmakers, they directly contradict President Donald Trump’s rationale — as commander in chief — for activating the National Guard.
Conservatives “pounced” as the Left is so fond of saying.
“Court Marshal this treasonous General,” Trump associate Roger Stone wrote on X.
Independent journalist Lara Logan asked, “How can he “protect” people from the law? If they break the law, they are supposed to be held accountable. Sounds like sedition to me.”
Retired Col. Rob Maness noted, “His duty is to the Constitution not to insurgents.”
Nightly “protests” — often turning violent — outside Portland’s ICE field office have raged for months, with many participants identified as members of Antifa. According to a White House news release:
Since early June, Antifa militants have laid siege to the ICE field office in south Portland. The terrorists have violently breached the facility by using a stop sign as a battering ram, hurled explosives and projectiles, burned American flags, viciously assaulted, attacked, and injured officers, doxed officers, berated neighbors, and even rolled out a guillotine.
The Trump administration has tried to deploy National Guard troops to the city to end the violence, but far-left local and state leaders refuse to even acknowledge, let alone confront, the unrest.
Elected officials continue to gaslight the public by framing Portland as calm and orderly. In the video below, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) claims that the violence in Portland is fake and is actually being staged by federal law enforcement as a pretext to deploy National Guard troops. He tells constituents, “It’s Trump creating the chaos because he wants violence and chaos to justify more authoritarian power. This is an incredibly perilous moment for our nation.”
And, in a scene reminiscent of Gov. Pritzker’s carefully choreographed “morning stroll” along Chicago’s Lake Shore Drive — his attempt to prove the city’s safety after a particularly bloody Labor Day weekend — Rep. Maxine Dexter (D-OR) recorded a video from Portland’s Broadway Bridge, describing the city as “peaceful.” State Rep. Dwayne Yunker (R-OR) edited the clip, overlaying it with footage that exposed the chaos she’d conveniently left out.
And all the while, these politicians have been aided and abetted by a network of equally far-left federal judges. On Saturday, District Court Judge Karin Immergut, surprisingly a Trump appointee, temporarily blocked the Trump administration from deploying Oregon National Guard troops to quell the violence in Portland, claiming that Trump’s description of the city as a “war zone” was “simply untethered to the facts.” Conditions on the ground, she said, were not sufficiently “violent or disruptive” to warrant the presence of federal troops.
When the Trump administration tried to deploy Texas and California National Guard troops (to Oregon) on Sunday, the judge issued a second restraining order blocking any National Guard troops from serving in the state.
In a Sunday night statement, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek said, “President Trump’s actions are an effort to occupy and incite cities and states that don’t share his politics, and I believe that we should expect him to continue to push the limits of his authority. The President can expect Oregon to stand up to him at every turn.”
I don’t doubt the governor means what she says.
On Wednesday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an administrative stay on Judge Immergut’s first order, the one blocking the deployment of Oregon National Guard troops.
The stay was a temporary procedural move that allows the troops to remain under federal control while the court reviews the case, but it did not allow their deployment.[On Thursday] The panel held a hearing for oral arguments on the administration’s appeal. During the hearing, judges appeared skeptical of the district court’s decision, but no ruling to lift the TRO has been issued.
The state then sued the Trump Administration to stop the deployment of troops.
As the legal battle plays out, those who actually live and work in Portland describe a city in distress. Portland business owner Amy Nichols told Fox News her establishment had recently been broken into for the tenth time. “We need help here and something needs to be done, so if [the National Guard] is what we need to do to get our leaders paying attention to what’s happening in Portland, then I think it’s a good thing. We’ve been struggling for a long time — since 2020.”
The owner of a Portland coffee shop said, “We struggle every day, every week, with the crime and the drugs and just the unsafeness that comes with being here in our city right now. It’s like our leaders have abandoned public safety for us.”
Another city resident noted, “Look at our streets — there’s homelessness, they’re full of garbage, businesses are leaving. We are not a thriving city. Our city is falling. It’s horrible.”
A republic cannot stand when public servants abandon the laws they are sworn to enforce. From Gen. Gronewold to Oregon’s governor, the line between dissent and disorder has become blurred. At a certain point, resistance ceases to be dissent and becomes insurrection.
It appears these individuals have already crossed that line.
Elizabeth writes commentary for Legal Insurrection and The Washington Examiner. She is an academy fellow at The Heritage Foundation. Please follow Elizabeth on X or LinkedIn.
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