ICE tried to flex its supposed popularity in Portland by posting a photo of exactly one lonely supporter.
President Donald Trump has sought to deploy National Guard troops to Oregon’s largest city, calling it a “war zone” and insisting that ICE facilities and officers are “under siege” from “domestic terrorists.”
On Thursday, ICE inadvertently made the opposite point while appearing to reveal limited enthusiasm for its operations in the city.
The agency’s official X account posted a grainy photo of a lone person, face blurred, holding up a cardboard sign reading, “I REALLY APPRECIATE YOU GUYS.”
Alongside the picture, ICE proclaimed, “PORTLAND — Not all outside of our ICE facility are violent. Thank you!”
On Monday, Portland Police Chief Bob Day told ABC News that protests, which have centered around one ICE facility—take up a single block of the 145-square-mile city.
“No, I would not say Portland’s war-ravaged,” Day said.
Portland police reports from the month leading up to Trump’s Sept. 27 decision to send troops to the city, obtained by The Wall Street Journal Thursday, detail night after night of almost nothing happening at the facility apart from “very low-energy” protests.
Local station KGW reported that “every person” it spoke with on Tuesday “laughed at” the idea that Portland and the area around the ICE building needs federal troops.
Later on Thursday, ICE posted an erratically edited video of “violent protests” it said were happening at the Portland facility with trap music playing in the background.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who visited Portland with MAGA podcaster Benny Johnson this week, was ridiculed Tuesday for complaining about a man in a chicken suit while surveying a tiny protest from atop the facility.
California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office swiftly trolled the photo-op flop, taking a screenshot of Johnson’s video showing the modest gathering—chicken man included—alongside the sarcastic caption: “PORTLAND’S WARZONE.”
But Trump was not being sarcastic when he told Newsmax host Greg Kelly Tuesday that Portland was facing an “insurrection.”
The 79-year-old president appears to be laying the groundwork to bypass courts that have blocked him from deploying the National Guard in blue cities by invoking the Insurrection Act.
White House officials led by Trump’s deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller are “seriously discussing” the move, NBC News reported Wednesday.
