Trump threatened Portland with troops to quell protests. The mayor says it’s not needed

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A gas mask dangled from Deidra Watts’s backpack as she joined a couple dozen others outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland, just as she has many nights since July.

The protesters toed a blue line painted across the building’s driveway. “GOVERNMENT PROPERTY DO NOT BLOCK,” read its white, stenciled letters. When they lingered too close, what appeared to be pepper balls rained down on them from officers posted on the building’s roof.

While disruptive to nearby residents — a charter school relocated this summer to get away from the crowd-control devices — the nightly demonstrations are a far cry from the unrest that gripped the city following the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police in 2020.

They nevertheless have drawn the attention of President Donald Trump, who often sparred with the city’s mayor back then.