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.”
The general’s comments Sept. 30 resurfaced online this week and drew both praise and scrutiny in equal measure. It’s an open question whether soldiers from the guard — from Oregon or any other state — will actually deploy outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in South Portland.
A federal judge paused President Donald Trump’s mobilization on Saturday, and expanded her order Sunday to block units of the guard from any state after Trump said he would muster troops from California and Texas.
The administration has now appealed the ruling to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which has set a hearing on the matter for Thursday. There’s no definite timeline for the appellate court to issue a ruling.
Gronewold, for his part, noted that the president’s federalization meant the soldiers would be taken out of his chain of command and placed under the control of the U.S. Northern Command.
He said Trump’s social media post authorizing “full force” by the soldiers was unclear, as the term is “not a doctrinal term that the Army uses.”
Gronewold closed out his remarks by asking lawmakers to spread a message about the difference between local troops and federal law enforcement agents.
“We’re the home team, and our job is to protect and serve Oregonians, and we follow lawful orders, and that’s what we’re doing,” he said. “Please treat them with dignity and respect.”
Gronewold echoed that sentiment in a Sept. 29 letter to troops.
“I know some of you may have strong feelings about this mission. That’s Okay. You are citizens first, but you’re also service members who took an oath to support and defend the Constitution and follow the orders of the President and the Governor,” Gronewold wrote. “That oath doesn’t come with an asterisk that says, ‘Only when I agree with the mission.’”
If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.