Imagine calling 911, knowing the officers desperately want to help, but their hands are tied by the very people sworn to protect you. This isn’t a dystopian novel—it’s Portland, Oregon, where federal facilities burn while police watch from the sidelines, ordered not to intervene.

For over 100 consecutive nights now, Antifa thugs have attacked the city’s ICE facility with bottle rockets, barricades, and lasers aimed at officers’ eyes.

The attacks have become so routine that Camilla Wamsley, director of Portland’s ICE office, recently revealed a shocking truth: local police have been directed not to help. Let that sink in—police ordered to watch as federal property burns.

Federal agents stand alone, dodging projectiles and protecting government property while Portland’s finest sit blocks away, neutered by radical city leadership. Nine homicides last month alone tell the story of a city spiraling out of control.

President Trump has signaled his intent to deploy National Guard units to Portland, authorizing “Full Force, if necessary” to protect what he calls the “war ravaged” city. It’s a dramatic intervention, but one that even Portland’s own police union president isn’t dismissing.

When Ideology Meets Reality

Here’s where the story takes an unexpected turn: Sgt. Aaron Schmautz, president of the Portland Police Association, has broken ranks with city leadership. Rather than toe the party line about Portland being safe and peaceful, he’s admitting what everyone can see: his officers need help, and they need it now.

From ‘Portland Police Association President Sgt. Aaron Schmautz’:

“There is a lot, I mean, of just open, very, very anti-police rhetoric in our city council meetings.

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.”

So, while city council members spew anti-police venom in their meetings, homicides increased five-fold. While politicians virtue signal about reimagining public safety, federal officers face nightly violence with zero backup.

The Portland Police Bureau, Schmautz admits, is “horrifically understaffed” at the exact moment crime is exploding. I’ve seen this movie before, and it doesn’t end well.

The Price of Political Theater

The union president’s words reveal an agonizing reality: Portland’s officers are caught between violent mobs and politicians who despise them. “No one should be OK with violence directed at anyone,” Schmautz said, expressing sympathy for federal agents facing attacks in Portland and beyond, including a recent shooting at an ICE facility in Dallas.

Look, his openness to federal assistance isn’t enthusiasm; it’s exhaustion. “Let’s present what resources we have to bring to bear to accomplish that task,” he explained. “And if it’s not sufficient, then we need help.”

This isn’t a political statement; it’s a cry for survival from officers drowning in crime while their leaders pontificate about police abolition.

The numbers don’t lie, even if politicians do. From 2020 to 2023, Portland transformed from a quirky Pacific Northwest city into a cautionary tale of what happens when ideology trumps reality. The slow recession in crime Schmautz mentions isn’t victory … it’s the difference between catastrophe and mere disaster.

Portland’s city council members drive past boarded-up businesses and step over needles on their way to meetings where they’ll denounce the very officers trying to hold their city together. Do they genuinely believe their anti-police rhetoric makes law-abiding citizens safer? Or have they simply invested too much political capital in a failed experiment to admit they were wrong?

This is what happens when cities choose criminals over citizens, when protecting Antifa becomes more important than protecting families. Portland isn’t just failing—they’re actively cheering for chaos while their city burns.

The question isn’t whether federal intervention is necessary; it’s whether anything can save a city whose own leaders root for its collapse.

Key Takeaways

• Portland police union admits they need federal help amid 500% homicide surge
• City council spews anti-police rhetoric while ICE facility faces 100+ nights of attacks
• Officers are “horrifically understaffed” and ordered not to help federal agents

Sources: Fox News