🔗 Share this article US Judge Halts Presidential Government from Sending National Guard to Portland An US judge has imposed a restraining order against the presidential government concerning the deployment of National Guard troops to the Oregon city of Portland, based on judicial records. Context on the Dispute Former President the previous administration had announced on the 27th of September that he would deploy troops to Portland, authorizing "Complete Power, if necessary", disregarding pleas from local officials and the Oregon's federal representatives, who suggested that the leader was misinformed or not truthful about the details and extent of a single, small protest outside a federal immigration enforcement office. A coalition of seventeen city leaders in Oregon had resisted the activation. The state's top legal officer, the state attorney, initiated legal action on the start of the week challenging the activation of 200 federalized members of the state guard. Court Ruling and Rationale In the temporary block made public on the weekend, US District Judge the presiding judge – who was nominated by Trump – sided with the state's claim that deploying federalized military personnel to the city would likely aggravate rather than calm protests, just as it did in recent years. The claimants say the deployment would violate the US Constitution as well as a federal law that typically forbids the armed forces from being used to implement internal regulations. Contrasting Views on the Situation The pronounced difference in how the two sides characterized the local reality in Portland was obvious at a recent court hearing before Immergut. Federal government lawyer Eric Hamilton said "aggressive extremists" had surrounded the Portland headquarters of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice). The decision to send two hundred personnel – just 5% of the number recently sent to respond to demonstrations in LA – showed restraint, Hamilton said. Caroline Turco, representing Portland, said that there had been no violence against agency personnel for an extended period and that current demonstrations were "peaceful" in the days before the president declared the city to be a battlefield, sometimes featuring fewer than a dozen protesters. "The president's perception of what is happening in this city is not the truth," the representative said. "The president's perception is that it is a major conflict out here. The fact is that this is a beautiful city with a advanced law enforcement that can manage the situation." Past Background and Government Reactions For years, Trump has advanced an misleading story that the city is a "conflict-torn" city with anarchists engaging in chronic chaos. In late September, the leader designated anti-fascist groups as a "major terrorist organization". Anti-fascist activism, short for opposition to fascism, is not a centralized organization in the US but more like an ideology with a loose network of supporters. "The court's decision supports what state residents already know: justice has been served, and the truth has prevailed," the state's leader, the governor, said after the injunction was granted. "No rebellion exists in the city. No threat to national security. No destructive incidents or deaths due to public protests. The sole danger we face is to our democracy – and it is being led by Former President the ex-leader." Wider Implications The ruling by the judge in Portland is a hurdle for Trump as he seeks to send the armed forces to cities he describes as disorderly over the opposition of their Democratic leaders. Trump has deployed or threatened to deploy troops in several American urban centers, especially ones governed by Democrats, including Los Angeles, the capital, Chicago and the Tennessee city. Speaking Tuesday to US military leaders in the state, the leader suggested using urban environments as training grounds for the military.