By Jack Queen and Dietrich Knauth
(Reuters) -A judge is set to decide on Friday whether President Donald Trump violated federal law when he sent National Guard troops to Portland, Oregon, following a closely watched trial over the president’s power to deploy the military on U.S. soil.
The decision by U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut, a Trump appointee, could be the first to permanently block Trump from using troops to quell protests against federal immigration authorities, which he is also attempting to do in Democrat-led Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington D.C. The case could ultimately go to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Troops are currently blocked from deploying to Portland by a temporary court order, and Immergut will decide whether to extend it indefinitely. The decision hinges on whether the protests amounted to a rebellion that legally justified a military response.
Dueling narratives have emerged in the case, which was filed in September by Oregon’s attorney general and the City of Portland.
During a three-day bench trial, Justice Department lawyers described a violent siege overwhelming federal agents at a Portland immigration detention facility, echoing Trump’s description of the city as “war-ravaged.”
“For months, agitators have used violence and threatened violence against the men and women who serve our country,” attorney Eric Hamilton said at trial.
Lawyers for Oregon and Portland said violence has been rare, isolated and contained by local police.
“This case is about whether we are a nation of constitutional law or martial law,” Portland’s attorney Caroline Turco said.
A Reuters review of court records found that at least 32 people have been charged with federal crimes stemming from the Portland protests since they began in June.
Of the 32 charged, 11 have pleaded guilty to misdemeanors, and those who have been sentenced received probation. One protester who threw a knife at an officer and missed pleaded guilty to intimidation and could face up to 20 years in prison.
About half the defendants were charged with assaulting federal officers, including 14 felonies and seven misdemeanors. Prosecutors dismissed two cases without explanation.
Charging documents describe protesters kicking and shoving officers, usually while resisting arrest. They have also spat on officers and thrown rocks, a water bottle and a kitchen knife, prosecutors say. Photos show officers with scrapes, cuts and other minor injuries.
Trump’s decision to send the National Guard in response to the protests is a sharp break with long-standing but rarely tested norms against deploying troops on U.S. soil.
Democrats have said the president is abusing military powers meant for genuine emergencies such as an invasion or an armed rebellion.
Immergut blocked Trump from deploying troops to Portland with an interim order on October 5.
The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is considering the Trump administration’s appeal of that decision.
Three judges, including Immergut, have issued preliminary rulings that Trump’s National Guard deployments are not allowed under the emergency legal authority cited by his administration.
(Reporting by Jack Queen and Dietrich Knauth;Editing by Noeleen Walder, David Bario and Lincoln Feast.)
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