Violence at Portland’s ICE facility is coming from one side: the officers
The crowds amassing on Portland’s South Waterfront on Sunday, Sept. 28, outside the city’s ICE processing facility, featured activists from nearly every community in the city, including volunteers handing out water and food from a mutual aid table and healthcare professionals nearby to offer onsite first-aid treatment. A cloud of tension sat over the metro region as residents waited to see exactly what President Trump’s latest pronouncement would mean.
Just one day earlier, Trump took to social media to loudly declare that he was “directing Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to provide all necessary Troops to protect War ravaged Portland, and any of our ICE Facilities under siege from attack by Antifa, and other domestic terrorists.” Perhaps most chillingly, Trump added that “I am also authorizing Full Force, if necessary.”
While it has remained unclear if troops would ultimately touch down in Portland, 200 National Guard troops were authorized by Hegseth into federal Title 10 service on Sept. 28.
The notion that Portland is “War ravaged” came as news to people who actually live there.
The notion that Portland is “War ravaged” came as news to people who actually live there. As residents have repeatedly pointed out, Portland is far from the war zone Fox News, Trump, and the MAGA right claim it to be. The city is not facing destructive mass demonstrations; rather, there has been a small, ongoing, largely nonviolent demonstration happening outside of the local Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility south of downtown.
This was the 113th day of protests at this location. A permanent protest encampment was established here shortly after high-profile immigration raids and confrontations began dominating news coverage