The systematic failure of Portland law enforcement to protect federal facilities from organized leftist violence has created the precise conditions that justify National Guard deployment, according to Department of Justice Civil Rights Division Chief Harmeet Dhillon.
Video evidence shows Portland police officers actively shielding Antifa militants who were targeting federal officers with high-powered flashlights at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility. This tactical cover allowed the militants to harass federal agents while avoiding standard crowd control measures like pepper balls.
The situation exemplifies why the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled this week that the President has constitutional authority to deploy National Guard troops in Portland. The three-judge panel determined that “the federalization and deployment of just 200 National Guardsmen for 60 days is well within a deferential proportional response to support good faith.”
This deployment authority stems from federal statute permitting National Guard mobilization in cases of rebellion or when federal law enforcement faces deliberate obstruction. The facts on the ground in Portland clearly demonstrate such obstruction, with local law enforcement actively enabling militant groups to interfere with federal immigration enforcement operations.
The broader context reveals a disturbing pattern: Portland’s far-left municipal leadership has consistently undermined federal immigration enforcement, despite clear evidence that permissive sanctuary policies enable criminal enterprises, particularly drug trafficking operations that devastate local communities.
This ideologically-driven obstruction of federal law enforcement isn’t limited to Portland. Similar dynamics are playing out in Los Angeles, where political and business interests dependent on illegal labor have fostered an environment hostile to immigration enforcement. The result is a dangerous precedent of local authorities actively impeding federal officers in the execution of their duties.
Critics of the National Guard authorization, including one dissenting 9th Circuit judge, claim insufficient evidence exists of threats to federal property or personnel. However, this position ignores documented instances of coordinated harassment and obstruction of federal operations by militant groups operating with apparent impunity under the protective umbrella of sympathetic local authorities.
Donald Trump Jr. addressed the situation directly, pushing back against false equivalencies in media coverage: “They say it’s violence on both sides. There is no violence from the right. It is not both sides, it is from one side and it was from the left alone.”
The 9th Circuit’s ruling represents a crucial affirmation of federal authority to protect its personnel and facilities when local law enforcement not only fails to do so but actively assists those seeking to obstruct federal operations. This precedent establishes clear legal grounds for proportional federal response when ideologically-motivated local authorities abdicate their fundamental law enforcement responsibilities.
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