Oregon Gov. Kate Brown deployed National Guard troops to Portland to quell “widespread violence” in the wake of Tuesday’s national election despite resisting calls to contain rioting and looting the city experienced numerous times over the previous five months.
The sheriff’s office of Multnomah County, centered on Portland, announced the deployment Wednesday without disclosing how many troops were activated.
“Widespread violence is occurring in Downtown Portland,” the sheriff’s office said in a Twitter post. “In the interest of public safety, Governor Kate Brown, under advice of the Unified Command, has activated the use of the Oregon National Guard to assist local law enforcement in responding to any acts of violence, and to maintain public order and ensure community safety.”
Portland Fox network affiliate KPTV reported that buildings were vandalized, including breaking the windows of a church which houses and aids homeless with mental health issues and substance abuse. ATMs were broken into and an American flag was set afire in the middle of a downtown street.
Brown signed an executive order Monday that created the “unified command,” which combined the National Guard, state police and local law enforcement and extended its operational status until Friday.,
The move by Brown, a Democrat, came despite her criticism of President Donald Trump for deploying federal policing units during the riots and protests in Portland that continued unabated for 104 consecutive days following the death of a Black man in police custody in Minneapolis in May.
Brown, along with many other Democrat officials in Oregon, decried Trump claiming his deployment of police to protect federal installations and building was amplifying the violence.
After an interruption in early September of about a week due to deteriorating air quality from wildfires, the protests and riots resumed through October.
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