After Months of Protests, Oregon Governor Finally Activates the National Guard to Quell the Riots

Oregon has been experiencing riots almost every night for the last several months and the Governor, Kate Brown, finally requested the National Guard to activate and quell the destruction for the riots that erupted Wednesday night. Around 7 pm, the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office declared a riot because demonstrators were causing violence and damage in the city.

Police say that rioters burned American flags and smashed windows of buildings, even a business that had a Martin Luther King Jr. quote, “Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” Windows of the St. Andrea Bassett Church were also broken, the church serves to help those who are homeless, experiencing poverty, mental health issues, and substance abuse. ATMs were also busted.

The Sheriff’s Office said that the rioters are creating “a significant risk to public safety,” and then declared an unlawful assembly. The Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office and the Oregon State Police comprise The Unified Command and they engaged with protesters to restore peace and order.

Only once before did Governor Brown request National Guard assistance. That was back in June and only 50 guardsmen were deployed but promised that they weren’t there to engage with rioters. Only to “care for the injured, processing arrests, directing traffic” and to assist as “support personnel.” She said,

“They will not be on the front lines making arrests or doing crowd control. You don’t diffuse violence by having soldiers on our streets. Having soldiers on our streets around America is exactly what President Trump wants…. I want to ensure that the public can safely raise their voices in this much-needed call for reform.”

Brown was asked in a press conference on November 4 why she hasn’t deployed the National Guard to Portland despite requests from the mayor. She responded that the Guard was not necessary nor were they trained to do what was needed. “So just to be very, very clear, the mayor asked for assistance from the National Guard several weeks, perhaps months ago, and there were multiple reasons at the time why I rejected that request.” She continued to say that she was working with the trained law enforcement of the city and state and said that they decided “that, A, we don’t need the national guard at this time and, B, that they are not trained for this work. What we need on the ground is trained law enforcement.”

Police say that they seized gun magazines, commercial-grade fireworks, hammers, knives and that 11 people have been arrested. One arrested man allegedly had a loaded rifle and another is suspected to have thrown a Molotov cocktail at police.

Brown issued an order before violence broke out on Wednesday, asking for the Unified Command to respond to unrest related to the election. Originally, the order was going to expire at 5 pm on Wednesday, but has been extended until 5 pm on Friday.

Speaking about the anticipated election results she said, “Across the United States, elections officials are working hard to ensure that every vote is counted, and it may be several days until we know the results of this election. It’s important to trust the process, and the system that has ensured free and fair elections in this country through the decades, even in times of great crisis.”

Sources: The Blaze, The Daily Wire; Photo-OBP