The Violence in Portland - It Comes Solely From the Trump Regime

A new chapter of brutality unfolded in front of the ICE prison in Portland - an incident that makes clear that the escalation of violence is not coming from the ranks of protesters but directly from the state apparatus of the Trump regime. A man and a woman were standing Friday evening at the entrance of the facility, talking to two police officers who were positioned behind shields. It was not an aggressive scene, no attack, no tumult. And yet one of the officers, without warning, reached for his pepper spray and unleashed it with full force into the young woman’s face.

Still minutes later crying in pain, while other protesters tried to assist her. Finally we called the ambulance and she had to be taken to the hospital because the injuries were more serious than they initially appeared. It is an attack that not only documents the scale of police violence but also exposes the strategy of the Trump regime: intimidation, humiliation, mistreatment, in order to break the resistance in American cities.

While a young woman writhed in tears of pain, Trump’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt declared with cynical coldness that they would “end the radical left reign of terror in Portland” and “protect the war-ravaged city.” This language is not that of a government concerned with law and order, but that of a fascist regime that declares an American city enemy territory. Whoever speaks of “warfare” against their own population speaks like a dictator - and opens the door wide for exactly those excesses of violence that took place in Portland.

We will of course continue to follow the case, which will also proceed in court. The girl’s injuries were more serious than they first appeared. The effect of the pepper spray went far beyond a short burning sensation. The skin on her face was badly damaged, the respiratory tracts severely attacked. She had to be treated for several hours by doctors and was then able to be released from the hospital. This shows once again: the violence that has been shaking Portland for weeks does not come from the protesters, but solely from the Trump regime and its forces. The people who protest against deportations, against state arbitrariness and against a system of fear rely on their voices, on banners, on gatherings. The answer of the state is shields, batons, tear gas and pepper spray - often without any provocation.

These are methods that recall the darkest chapters of history. When a government treats peaceful citizens like enemies at war, when it deploys its press secretaries to spread propaganda about “radical terror” and “war-ravaged cities,” then the line to fascist behavior has long been crossed. What is happening in Portland is no longer police work - it is a politically motivated attack on the right to resist, an attack on human dignity and an attack on democracy itself.

The answer must be clear: this violence must not be relativized, must not be glossed over as “necessary.” It must be called by its name: fascist. And it demands a resistance that is smart, organized, unshakable. For the young people in Portland, including that girl who was taken to the hospital with injuries, are not the perpetrators - they are the victims. Victims of a regime that speaks only in the language of violence. For that we will stand up, with full force if necessary, because the time for the fight is now, not in 2 weeks, or 4 weeks, when the donation bag is full. Whoever looks away today, when pepper spray is unleashed into the face of a young woman in Portland, will tomorrow experience violence escalating in other places. Therefore it is essential to clearly name the responsibility: the violence in Portland comes solely from the Trump regime. And only if we acknowledge this can we understand what is at stake - freedom, democracy, human dignity.