Harmeet Dhillon, a leading civil rights official in the Justice Department, suggested that the president might consider deploying the National Guard to downtown Portland, Oregon, due to city police allegedly shielding Antifa members during confrontations with federal agents.
Her remarks followed the release of a video where Antifa protesters were seen taking cover behind city police while aiming powerful flashlights at federal agents tasked with guarding an ICE facility. The police reportedly shielded these protesters from the pepper balls typically used by security at federal sites.
“This is precisely why the 9th Circuit indicated the president could call for the National Guard!” Dillon highlighted on October 21. “Such a glaring lapse!”
Federal law permits the president to mobilize the National Guard when there is a threat of “insurrection” or if federal laws are not being enforced effectively.
A three-judge panel from the Ninth Circuit Court recently approved such deployment on October 20, stating, “Federalizing and deploying just 200 National Guardsmen for 60 days is a reasonable and measured response in support of law and order.”
One judge, however, disagreed, asserting that the government could not provide evidence that federal personnel or property faced any direct threats, nor that local police had ignored requests for help.
Antifa groups have been known to confront and intimidate federal officials working to uphold immigration laws at this facility.
There is an ongoing perception that the city’s far-left leadership supports these actions, despite ongoing concerns about illegal immigrants’ involvement in serious crimes, including drug-related incidents affecting local citizens.
Many fatalities result from Antifa’s protective stance toward undocumented immigrants who engage in drug sales.
This scenario mirrors situations in Los Angeles, where city officials and some community leaders appear to promote hostility against federal agents enforcing immigration policies.
Additionally, in Los Angeles, numerous businesses benefit from illegal immigrants providing inexpensive labor for affluent residents, contributing to rising rental prices that favor influential landlords.
“I see violence on both sides,” Don Trump Jr. remarked on October 21 during a FOX News discussion, suggesting that violence was predominantly driven by the left rather than being a mutual conflict.
