President on Saturday expanded his controversial deployment of National Guard troops to cities where he claims “domestic terrorists” are operating and where crime is rampant.
The latest city will be Portland, Oregon, known across the US for its progressive politics. All of the other cities to which Trump has deployed National Guard troops to — Washington DC, and Los Angeles — have Democratic mayors.
The US president said he was “authorizing full force, if necessary” to address crime in “war-ravaged Portland” which he described as “under siege and attack from Antifa.”
Last week, — an antifascist and sometimes anarchist movement with roots in 19th-century Europe, when fascist parties were in power in Germany, Italy, and Spain — as a “domestic terrorist organization.” This decree came despite the fact that Antifa is not an organization, and there is little reliable data on how many people consider themselves part of the movement in the United States.
‘I do not need federal intervention’ — Portland mayor
Although Portland has seen steady decline in violent crime in recent years, its allegedly high crime rate has been a popular target of right-wing pundits in the US. Recently, its immigration detention facility has been the site of major protests, some of which have resulted in clashes with police, amidst .
“Like other mayors across the country, I have not asked for, and do not need, federal intervention,” Portland mayor Keith Wilson said in a statement.
The National Guard deployments have been criticized as a waste of funds that have resulted in few additional arrests. , the troops were mocked for being relegated to doing gardening and maintenance in the city’s parks after the Trump administration fired many of the park employees.
Edited by: Dmytro Hubenko
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