If President Trump makes good on his threat to send federal troops to Oakland, they may be met by a small army of lawyers.
Federal law enforcement officers in Portland have been cracking down on protests night after night. Officers in camouflage without any visible identification have used clubs, tear gas and rubber bullets on unarmed protestors and made arrests. The federal forces are in Portland without the permission of either Governor Kate Brown or Mayor Ted Wheeler.
President Trump has defended their presence in Portland, referring to protestors as “anarchists” who “hate our country” and on Monday threatened to send troops into more cities.
“I’m going to do something, that I can tell you,” he said. “Because we’re not going to let New York and Chicago and Philadelphia, Detroit and Baltimore and all of these - Oakland is a mess - we’re not going to let this happen in our country. All run by liberal Democrats.”
The Bay Area chapter of the National Lawyers’ Guild called Trump’s actions a “dangerous escalation towards fascism,” and is preparing a legal strategy in response.
It is unclear what the President’s plans are, but the fear is that sending federal troops into Oakland could ignite nightly chaos similar to the situation in Portland.