Guard troops begin training in Portland on handling civil disturbances
President Trump said Tuesday U.S. cities should be military "training grounds."
Some 200 to 250 National Guard troops in Portland, Oregon, began reporting to duty on Wednesday and undergoing initial military training on how to respond to civil disturbances in the Democratic-run city, several officials told ABC News.
The training includes legal briefings and reviewing "special rules for the use of force" in domestic situations, one official said. The troops were told their job would be to defend federal buildings and federal employees.
While mobilization was under way, the National Guard personnel were not expected to be deployed on Portland streets until possibly next week.
“Members of the Oregon National Guard are reporting for duty, conducting training, and preparing to support U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other U.S. Government personnel who are performing federal functions, including the enforcement of federal law, and to protect federal property in Oregon,” Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement.
The operation comes as President Donald Trump has called on the military to use U.S. cities as "training grounds" while warning of an "invasion from within.” The White House on Tuesday issued an order to "crush radical left terrorism" in Portland.
Trump’s rhetoric has alarmed legal experts who say the president shouldn’t be using military force against U.S. citizens.
In the case of Oregon, Trump appears to want to use the active-duty troops under a law known as Title 10, which allows a president to order troops to protect federal buildings and personnel. The governor there has called the deployment of military troops to Portland unwarranted, and the Oregon attorney general has filed a lawsuit trying to block the deployment.
Trump on Wednesday declared, “the National Guard is now in place, and has been dedicated to restoring LAW AND ORDER, and ending the Chaos, Death, and Destruction!”
Trump also has ordered the deployment of more than 2,200 troops to Washington, D.C., where, in addition to some patrolling, they have spent the past several weeks picking up trash, painting fences and spreading mulch.
An unknown number of troops also were expected to be used as part of an anti-crime crackdown in Memphis, Tennessee, after Republican Gov. Bill Lee and Trump agreed to create a federally funded task force there. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Attorney General Pam Bondi traveled to Memphis on Wednesday to meet with authorities there.
It’s not clear how soon Memphis might see Guard personnel deployed. Some 160 members of the Tennessee National Guard recently returned to their home state after being sent to the nation's capital, remaining on active duty.
Because those activated Guard personnel were expected to remain under state control, troops there could be used to conduct law enforcement duties -- a legal option rarely used by governors except under extraordinary circumstances.
All Guard troops deployed across the country on Wednesday were among the 2 million active-duty troops working without pay due to a government shutdown.
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