Federal Judge: Trump Can't Send Guard to Portland, But Feds Can Disappear Protesters
The Independent reports a federal judge's permanent injunction, preventing the Trump administration from deploying the National Guard to Portland over ICE protests in 2020. This 'victory' comes almost five years after federal agents, not the Guard, were already deployed – snatching protesters off the streets in unmarked vans, well documented by local media and civil rights groups. (Funny how the
courts move so swiftly to prevent issues that are already historic footnotes.) While legal battles tie up military deployments, the Department of Homeland Security's 'tactical units' were given free rein, demonstrating a clear double standard. It appears the 'rule of law' is less about protecting citizens from state overreach and more about defining which acronym gets to apply force. One might
wonder if the same legal urgency would apply if those protesters had been, say, disrupting legislative processes inside government buildings.