NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
The president of Portland’s police union said he’s open to federal support to help the agency combat a “burst” in crime.
President Donald Trump has signaled he wants to send National Guard units into Portland, Ore., in order to protect the city as well as ICE facilities, which he said have come under attack by Antifa.
“At the request of Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, I am directing Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to provide all necessary Troops to protect War ravaged Portland, and any of our ICE Facilities under siege from attack by Antifa, and other domestic terrorists,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. “I am also authorizing Full Force, if necessary.”
Camilla Wamsley, director of Portland’s ICE office, previously told Fox News that the agency’s facility has been confronted with violence for over 100 straight nights — saying that police in Portland have been directed not to help.
ICE DIRECTOR SAYS PORTLAND FACILITY FACES VIOLENCE WITH ‘LITTLE HELP FROM LOCAL POLICE’
The nightly protests, she said, include bottle rockets striking the facility, barricades blocking vehicles and lasers targeting officers’ eyes.
Sgt. Aaron Schmautz, president of the Portland Police Association, told Fox News Digital he wants to work with the feds to identify an approach to solve the city’s crime issue.
“Let’s present what resources we have to bring to bear to accomplish that task,” Schmautz told Fox News Digital. “And if it’s not sufficient, then we need help. And so, you know, again, I don’t want to be drawn into a hard yes or no. What I want is for us all to identify the problem and work together as a whole of government to solve the problem.”
Schmautz said that the Portland Police Bureau is “horrifically understaffed,” at a time when some local leaders, he said, aren’t supporting police.
“There is a lot, I mean, of just open, very, very anti-police rhetoric in our city council meetings,” he said.
ANTI-ICE PORTLAND RIOTERS WITH GUILLOTINE CLASH WITH POLICE IN WAR-LIKE SCENES
“We are still working our way out of a significant, you know, burst, or an expansion in our crime profile. I mean, we have, you know, our homicides went up, times five from 2020 to 2023, and we’re kind of slowly receding, although we’ve had nine last month,” he said.
The union president said he’s sympathetic to the fear that federal law enforcement is feeling after a series of attacks.
“I am extraordinarily sympathetic to how concerned and afraid federal officers – I mean, there was a shooting in Dallas at an ICE facility. There are federal officers being hit by cars. And, you know, in a world where we have different perspectives about politics, it’s one thing to have policy discussions and everything else. But no one should be OK with violence directed at anyone,” Schmautz said.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Portland City Council and mayor’s office for comment.
Fox News’ Greg Wehner and Bill Melugin contributed to this report.
Read the full article here