An Oregon judge blocking the deployment of the National Guard to Portland, Oregon, represents not just judicial overreach against the authority of the president, but also material support of "an organized terrorist attack," according to White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller.
"Legal insurrection," Miller wrote on X, denouncing U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut's temporary block on deploying the National Guard in Portland because of local leftist leaders' lawsuit against the Trump administration. "The President is the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, not an Oregon judge.
"Portland and Oregon law enforcement, at the direction of local leaders, have refused to aid ICE officers facing relentless terrorist assault and threats to life. (There are more local law enforcement officers in Oregon than there are guns and badges in the FBI nationwide).
"This is an organized terrorist attack on the federal government and its officers, and the deployment of troops is an absolute necessity to defend our personnel, our laws, our government, public order and the Republic itself."
Immergut, appointed by President Donald Trump during his first term, issued the order pending further arguments in the leftist obstructionists' lawsuit. She claimed the anti-ICE activity didn't justify the use of federalized forces.
"This country has a longstanding and foundational tradition of resistance to government overreach, especially in the form of military intrusion into civil affairs," Immergut wrote.
"This historical tradition boils down to a simple proposition: this is a nation of Constitutional law, not martial law."
The Trump administration late Saturday filed a notice of appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
State and city officials sued to stop the deployment last week, one day after the Trump administration announced that 200 Oregon National Guard troops would be federalized to protect federal buildings. The president called the city "war-ravaged."
Generally speaking, the president is allowed "a great level of deference" to federalize National Guard troops in situations where regular law enforcement forces can't execute the laws of the U.S., the judge admitted. But she offered her opinion — over the president's constitutional authority — that hasn't been the case in Portland.
That is where Miller's X post comes in. The president is the ultimate judge of that, "not an Oregon judge."
"President Trump exercised his lawful authority to protect federal assets and personnel in Portland following violent riots and attacks on law enforcement — we expect to be vindicated by a higher court," White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson wrote in a statement after the ruling.
Trump has deployed or threatened to deploy troops in several U.S. cities, particularly ones led by Democrats, including Los Angeles, Washington, Chicago, and Memphis, Tennessee. Speaking Tuesday to U.S. military leaders in Virginia, he proposed using cities as training grounds for the armed forces.
On Saturday, before the Immergut ruling was released, roughly 400 people marched to the ICE facility in Portland. Federal agents responded with chemical crowd control munitions, including tear gas canisters and less-lethal guns that sprayed pepper balls. At least six people were arrested as the protesters reached the ICE facility.
Later in the evening, federal agents again emerged from the facility and deployed tear gas on a crowd of about 100 people.
Trump sent federal officers to Portland over the objections of local and state leaders in 2020 during long-running riots following George Floyd's death. The administration sent hundreds of agents for the stated purpose of protecting the federal courthouse and other federal property from vandalism.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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