Oregon’s top military leader: National Guard troops ‘will be protecting any protesters at the ICE facility’
A nine-day-old snippet of testimony in front of Oregon lawmakers is rocketing around social media as Portland awaits word from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on President Trump’s troop deployment plans.
Oregon’s top military leader offered some reassuring — or infuriating, depending on one’s political perspective — comments about the role of National Guard soldiers during a proposed federal troop deployment to Portland.
Speaking before a state Senate subcommittee, Brigadier General Alan R. Gronewold told legislators that before deployment, the two companies of soldiers would be trained in “protective crowd control.” That training is now up in the air as Gov. Tina Kotek on Tuesday ordered troops to go home after a federal judge ruled over the weekend that Trump had no authority to call them up.
Gronewold said Guard soldiers serve two purposes: “One, to defend America, and two, to protect Oregonians. And so by serving in this mission, they will be protecting any protesters at the ICE facility.” [Continue reading…]