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- A soldier is walking through the city: Trump decided to use the army to fight the protests in Portland
A soldier is walking through the city: Trump decided to use the army to fight the protests in Portland
Donald Trump called Portland a city "ravaged by war" and ordered troops to be sent to protect the capital of Oregon from the Antifa movement. The number of troops is not reported. However, this is the first time that American soldiers will take to the streets of the city to confront a political movement, and not criminal gangs, as previously stated during the deployment of troops in Washington, Los Angeles and Chicago. What is this new trend, Izvestia reports.
They relied on the army
"At the request of Secretary of Homeland Security Kristy Noam, I am instructing Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to provide the necessary troops to protect war—ravaged Portland and any of our ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement — Izvestia) facilities under siege from attacks by Antifa and other local terrorists," wrote the American leader Donald Trump is on his Truth Social network. The President stressed that, if necessary, he allows the use of full force.
It is not reported exactly how many soldiers will be sent to Oregon.
According to Bloomberg, protests outside the Immigration and Customs Police building have been going on since June. Oregon has become a "sanctuary state," meaning that neither state law enforcement agencies nor city police are allowed to cooperate with federal immigration authorities, the agency said.
At the same time, the state capital, Portland, regularly becomes the scene of clashes, which are mostly provoked by leftists. Five years ago, at the height of the BLM (Black Lives Matter) protests, Oregon became one of the centers of confrontation. There were clashes between Trumpists and opponents. The protesters usually attacked the local Immigration and Customs Police office.
The city and state are led by Democratic politicians who believe that there is no reason to send troops.
Senator from Oregon, Democrat Ron Wyden showed footage showing the situation near the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office. According to him, everything is quite peaceful, there are no signs of war and siege, which President Donald Trump mentioned. In addition, the politician cited statistics according to which Portland ranks in the sixth ten out of 75 major US cities in terms of crime.
Portland Mayor Keith Wilson called the incident a show of force and urged residents to remain calm and not react.
Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield said the state has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, challenging the mobilization of Oregon National Guard troops to serve in Portland.
According to him, the federalization of the National Guard of Oregon is required to be declared illegal, he also insists on suspending the presidential order.
Democrats sharply criticize the Republican president, saying that he uses authoritarian methods and, under the pretext of fighting crime, is trying to make a habit of sending troops into American cities controlled by Democrats.
On a rolling basis
Trump has already done this in Washington, Los Angeles and Chicago under the pretext of fighting crime. Supporters of the head of state claim that nothing terrible happened after the troops entered these cities. They also believe that law-abiding citizens on the streets of cities have only become calmer.
Portland may become the first US city in which the military may be involved for political reasons. For the first time, soldiers will take to the streets of the city in order to resist not bandits, but a political movement, albeit marginal and officially considered terrorist in the United States.
The Antifa movement does not exist as a de facto legal structure, it is understood as supporters of anarchist views and a network of organizations supporting leftist protests. FBI Director Cash Patel previously announced the launch of anti-terrorism investigations against these "nihilists."
On September 23, the US president signed a decree recognizing the Antifa movement as a terrorist organization, blaming it for the murder of social activist Charlie Kirk. According to The Wall Street Journal, bullets with the movement's slogans were found on the rifle that allegedly killed one of the most famous and popular conservative commentators.
What do the experts think
Andrei Kortunov, the scientific director of the Russian Council on International Affairs, noted in an interview with Izvestia that what is happening is a new stage in American politics.
— The process of political confrontation in the United States is taking on even more drastic and radical forms. It all started with the murder of political activist Kirk, and Trump took advantage of this to increase pressure on his opponents, in particular the Antifa movement. Portland, as far as I remember, is a fairly calm city.: This is not Chicago, not Los Angeles, but a city that has never had serious criminal events," the expert explained.
According to the political scientist, this is primarily a political action.
— It is directed primarily against the left-wing radicals who oppose Trump. Obviously, he sees certain threats to the implementation of his plans in them. Whether the Republican Party's position will be shaken or strengthened after Kirk's murder will depend on a personal factor, the expert believes.
He added that the very fact of Charlie Kirk's murder had a mobilizing effect on the right-wing conservative part of the American public.
— Supporters gathered, the conservative public was stirred up. Everyone began to talk about how Kirk's legacy should be preserved, and recordings of his performances were gaining additional popularity. His wife said that she would continue her husband's work, so for now it is more likely to talk about the strengthening of these conservative and right—wing tendencies, the expert believes.
The analyst is sure that how stable everything will be is an open question.
— Maybe this wave of support will gradually fade away, and it will be more difficult for Trump to maintain his position among the youth part of his supporters. There are no answers yet to the question of whether there will be a replacement, and if so, in what form it will appear. But it is clear that in order to launch a counteroffensive, the left also needs to look for new leaders and new slogans. The Democratic Party is still in very bad shape," Kortunov summed up.
Chris Mirasola, a law professor at the University of Houston Law Center, expresses serious concerns about what is happening in the United States.
"I think that, in fact, there are serious problems related to the fact that our politicians are getting used to the fact that the military is constantly and consistently involved in situations that, frankly, are not at all emergency," the expert concluded.
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