PNN – A U.S. federal judge has issued a final ruling declaring the president’s order to deploy military forces in Portland illegal.
According to the report of Pakistan News Network, a federal judge ruled that former U.S. President Donald Trump’s directive to send National Guard troops to Portland, Oregon, was unlawful. The ruling marks a legal setback for the Trump administration’s efforts to use military forces in urban areas.
Judge Karin Immergut, who was appointed by Trump, ruled that the administration’s reliance on “insurrection” laws to justify the deployment lacked a legal basis. This decision replaces her earlier temporary injunction that had blocked the deployment of troops to Portland.
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It is the first definitive ruling against the use of military forces by a U.S. president. The Trump administration, which had also pursued similar deployments in cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago, and Washington, D.C., is expected to appeal the decision, which could eventually reach the U.S. Supreme Court.
The City of Portland and the Oregon Attorney General’s Office filed a lawsuit against Trump’s decision in September. Local officials argued that the federal government exaggerated isolated incidents of violence to portray the situation as an “insurrection” and justify deploying the National Guard.
During the court hearings, Justice Department lawyers claimed that federal agents were under siege and that the city was in a state of war. Lawyers for Portland and the State of Oregon countered that the violent incidents were limited, sporadic, and under control by local police.
Court documents reviewed by Reuters show that since the protests began in June, 32 people have been charged in connection with the Portland unrest. Eleven of them pleaded guilty to minor offenses and received sentences such as probation, while only one person, accused of throwing a knife at officers, faces a potentially harsher penalty.