US: judge blocks deployment of National Guard to Portland

Portland (Oregon, US), 5 October (LaPresse/AP) – A federal judge in Oregon has temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s administration from deploying the National Guard to Portland, ruling on Saturday in a lawsuit filed by the state and the city. Karin Immergut said that the relatively modest protests that have taken place in the city did not justify the use of federal forces and that allowing the deployment could damage the sovereignty of the State of Oregon. ‘This country has a long-standing and fundamental tradition of resisting excessive government interference, particularly in the form of military intrusion into civil affairs,’ Immergut wrote. ‘This historical tradition boils down to a simple proposition: this is a nation of constitutional law, not martial law,’ she added. The Trump administration has appealed to the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal.