Portland’s police leadership told a federal court that the mere promise of troops marching into their city under Donald Trump’s orders transformed quiet demonstrations into nights of tension and tear gas.
The testimony unfolded before U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut, who is presiding over a closely watched trial that could decide whether the former president’s deployment of National Guard forces to Portland was even lawful. The case, with no jury involved, probes whether protests near an immigration detention center were truly so disruptive that they justified military intervention.
Commander Franz Schoening of the Portland Police Bureau said that what began as manageable gatherings in September swelled in both size and volatility after Trump announced troops were coming. He described a chaotic scene in which federal officers used tear gas and pepper rounds — sometimes misfiring them onto their own building, hitting both protesters and local police.
“The use of tear gas was startling,” Schoening said, adding that Oregon law now forbids local police from using such weapons unless a protest officially becomes a riot. By his account, nothing since mid-June had reached that threshold.
Portland’s legal team framed the issue as a battle over the nation’s soul. “This case is about whether we are governed by constitutional law or martial law,” argued city attorney Caroline Turco.
The Justice Department countered with its own version of events — describing months of violent agitation that endangered federal officers and crippled immigration enforcement. “For months, agitators have used violence and threatened violence against the men and women who serve this country,” said government lawyer Eric Hamilton.
The lawsuit, filed by the City of Portland and Oregon’s attorney general, accuses the Trump administration of fabricating claims of rebellion to justify an unlawful show of military force. Portland joins a growing list of Democrat-led cities — including Los Angeles and Chicago — where Trump sent in the National Guard despite longstanding traditions that keep troops off domestic streets.
Democrats call it an abuse of emergency powers meant for true national crises like invasions or uprisings.
As testimony continues, the courtroom is hearing two sharply conflicting versions of the same nights: one of federal officers besieged by violent mobs, the other of a city struggling to maintain peace amid political overreach.
For now, the judge’s earlier ruling still blocks any new troop deployments to Portland — a fragile pause in a long-running fight over where the line between public order and presidential power truly lies.
