At least 166 Oregon National Guard members have volunteered for Trump deployment

The Oregon National Guard said it has begun the process of mobilizing guard members with law enforcement experience to comply with President Donald Trump’s deployment order for 200 troops in Portland, but it could be next week before there are actual boots on the ground.

Lt. Col. Stephen Bomar, director of public affairs for the Oregon Military Department, said Thursday is the absolute earliest the guard could arrive in Portland, but he wouldn’t bet on that.

Guard members need to be vetted for their qualifications, which takes 96 hours, and some could need additional training before they’re deployed.

“If we had everything all ready to go, the earliest would be shortly after that 96-hour mark, but I do not see that happening in this case,” Bomar said.

There’s been little of the typical coordination between the guard and state agencies or the Portland Police Bureau and Multnomah Sheriff’s office, Bomar said, which could lengthen the time it takes to mobilize.

The troops entering Portland are drawn from a pool of 300 guard members who are either trained as military police or have been certified by the state’s police standards agency. Of the 300 qualified guard members, 166 members primarily from the I-5 corridor have already volunteered for service in Portland.

The situation is without precedent, as Trump’s order marks the first time Oregon’s National Guard has been deployed within the state over the objections of its governor, Bomar said. The only other time the president has deployed Oregon’s National Guard was for airport security in the aftermath of September 11, 2001.

The guard has previously deployed the National Guard to assist with public safety and civil unrest. Former Gov. Kate Brown activated them for four days in November 2020 to support State Police Troopers and Portland Police during protests. The guard also responded when the Rajneeshees descended on Wasco County in the mid-1980s, and even during a 1896 fisherman’s strike in Astoria.

“We swear an oath to obey the orders of the President of the United States and to obey the orders of the governor of the state of Oregon,” Bomar told OPB. “These are lawful orders until deemed otherwise.”

Oregon’s elected leaders are currently challenging that order in court.

Attorney General Dan Rayfield, Gov. Tina Kotek and Portland Mayor Keith Wilson have filed a lawsuit and restraining order, attempting to block Trump from carrying out the deployment. They argue the president has exceeded his legal authority and there is no public safety threat so significant anywhere in Oregon that it warrants a militarized response.

U.S. District Court Judge Michael Simon is set to hear oral arguments Friday.

The main charge for the National Guard troops will be providing security for federal buildings. It hasn’t been determined yet where the troops will be stationed or whether they’ll be armed. They will not be assisting with immigration or law enforcement, Bomar said.

Lt. Col. Charles Patzner will command the troops and work with United States Northern Command to determine where the guard should be deployed..

If they determine no guard presence is needed, “then maybe we do stand down. It could be that simple,” Bomar said. “If it isn’t secure and it is chaotic, then that will also get voiced up that chain of command.”

City officials left waiting for deployment details

Officials in Portland say they are in the dark about what will happen if and when National Guard troops arrive. Some tactics that played out over the weekend are still a mystery, they said.

One example: It’s not yet confirmed who is operating a helicopter that began hovering close to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building over the weekend, circling the protests.

“I have no details on the helicopter,” Portland Police Chief Bob Day told reporters Monday. “I hear it as well but I have no details on that.”

Also on Monday, the FBI said it searched a residence associated with a person who allegedly aimed a laser Saturday evening at a helicopter operated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

During the FBI’s search, agents said they found the laser. In all, they arrested four people suspected of being in the country unlawfully. They’ve since been placed into the custody of ICE, the FBI noted.

Speaking to reporters at the bureau’s central precinct, less than 2 miles from the ICE building, Day disagreed with the premise that federal agents need to intervene to keep the city safe.

“This is one city block. The city of Portland is 145 square miles,” Day said. “And even the events that are happening down there do not rise to the level of attention that they are receiving.”

Sunday saw the largest number of protesters over the weekend, coinciding with the president’s announcement about the National Guard. Counter-protesters also appeared at the facility, leading to heated arguments and some fighting.

Portland police arrested two people Sunday night: a 17-year-old charged with misdemeanor assault and a 38-year-old man facing felony assault. Those were the first two arrests by Portland police at the ICE facility in roughly three months, Day said.

The bureau has policed the situation with a far more hands-off strategy than in 2020, when the killing of George Floyd by police in Minnesota led to more than 100 nights of protests in Portland. Those protests led to frequent clashes with local and federal officers.

Rather than deploying riot control tactics against entire crowds, the bureau has relied on bicycle cops wearing bright yellow shirts who often target specific individuals with arrests and work to leave the situation quickly. The bureau also relies on white-shirted “dialogue officers” who try to talk with people without escalating tensions.

“It is a totally different landscape,” Day said, comparing 2020 to the current protests outside Portland’s ICE building. “Even though we had some disturbances at the facility, after some quick, targeted arrests, it quickly dissipated and that was the end of the story.”

But the wider perception of those protests has remained stubborn. Images have streamed across social media showing montages of boarded-up storefronts, fires and violence that Day and other local officials have repeatedly stressed are not happening in the present tense.

If those are the images convincing Trump to mobilize troops, Beaverton Mayor Lacey Beaty said, then the president is “listening to the wrong people.”

“The president cannot watch footage from over a half-decade ago and believe this is the Portland that we’re standing in today,” Beaty said. She was among roughly a dozen mayors who joined together Monday to denounce a “false narrative” used to justify targeting the city.

Beaty, a U.S. Army veteran whose husband is an active member of the Oregon National Guard, said she and the other mayors are the most qualified “boots-on-the-ground” to declare whether federal intervention is needed.

“We’re the level of government closest to our people,” Beaty said. “Listen to the people who know our community the best.”

Local officials Monday said they are not privy to any conversations about what the National Guard will do during the planned 60-day deployment. The initial memo signed by the Department of Defense states that they will be protecting federal property and personnel. There is no mention, for example, of enforcing immigration laws.

Day noted that there are several Portland police officers active in the National Guard, but said he has not been told of any current officers who have been called up. But Day said the lack of clarity of the federal government’s plans doesn’t change his bureau’s strategy – at least not yet.

“We’re going to be consistent in what we do on a daily basis. And we’re going to have to adjust,” Day said. “That doesn’t mean that I’m naive or not paying attention to these outside influences, but the message of the Portland police bureau is: We’re going to stay fixed on our goals.”