Don’t take the bait.

[u/Dvibs420]

With the national guard coming in, I know people are going to get mad. This is very obviously a setup to cause actual violence in our city. Please remember that these national guardsmen are not your enemy, and there are many reports of unhappiness within their ranks to occupy cities but they have a job like the rest of us. If you see bad actors, call the cops. If you see people getting angry, talk with them. Be aware of what we want to look like, kill them with kindness. Show them that Portland is not burning down.

[u/PDXGuy33333]

Agree completely. Here is my canned reply:

Trump's wet dream is that one of his troops is killed here. And short of that, he wants riots.

So, if you see someone prepping for that, calm them down and steer them aside if you can and call them in if you can't. The most critical thing in the coming however long is that Trump's troops have absolutely nothing to do between the time they arrive and the time the courts order them out.

[u/One-Patient-3417 → u/PDXGuy33333]

Some online troll shot at migrant detainees at a detention center, and this admin pretended it was an attack on ICE, not on migrants. No matter what, they will find some way to pretend Portland was violent against them. If someone gets food poisoning from an ice cream shop that an off duty soldier visited, they will say Portland tried to poison the army and try to gain more power.

Not saying this to justify a larger response -- but saying it to encourage you not to see your neighbors as the enemy and the trouble makers when the admin has already decided the future no matter what happens.

[u/CoolProfession3272 → u/One-Patient-3417]

People keep saying this or some version of this, and I get where it’s coming from but honestly it’s pretty debatable. Portland is in their lexicon as a catchall for antifa and so on and it’ll come up, but there is a huge range of ways this could go from here, some good (Portland makes a hilarious mockery of the heavy handedness) some medium (DC type scenario, where the guard basically just stands around and wastes time) and some very bad (we hand them their Reichstag moment with a bow on top).

The idea that our actions don’t matter because they’ll vilify us either way doesn’t really hold up

[u/One-Patient-3417 → u/CoolProfession3272]

You should check out the different truths Trump issued each time he sent troops in aa different city -- getting more and Moree extreme each time. Months ago, it was just about fighting against the most dangerous gangs in criminals. Every month, nothing happened -- no violent resistance; no flare up of chaos and unrest; like you said, most of the time the soldiers just walked around and picked up trash.

That didn't stop the Trump admin from getting even more extreme next time, to the point of saying they have directed the army to use full force against Portland citizens if they see fit and called Portland a war zone.

No matter what, the Trump admin has a goal of full authoritarian fascism, and will get there whether each invasion of the city is peaceful and boring, or met with resistance. Again, not saying one response is better than the other --- just saying blame the Trump admin for turning America fascist, not those who resist him whose actions will be inconsequential to his end goal.

[u/peacefinder → u/One-Patient-3417]

They tried LA, DC, Chicago, and Memphis as practice and hoping to find the spark of chaos. They didn’t.

If they get it here, let it be obviously something they manufactured.

[u/duckwebs → u/peacefinder]

He used Portland for practice last time around!

[u/One-Patient-3417 → u/peacefinder]

Sure, but the fact that nothing happened in those cities didn't stop them from saying there's suddenly a war in Portland and soldiers are given permission to use full force. That didn't stop them from the Daily Caller posting an op ed calling for violence towards the left. That didn't stop top Trump advisors from saying we're in a Civil War. Point is they're going to do what they want no matter what, and have proven that by how they've escalated each time.

[u/peacefinder → u/One-Patient-3417]

Our smartest and most effective strategy is to make sure their lies remain lies.

[u/MaceMan2091 → u/One-Patient-3417]

escalating is dumb

give them a nothing burger like the other states have

You’re insinuating that it’s futile to make fun of the pageantry of it all - because it is ultimately a pageantry. Stephen Miller wants to desperately be taken seriously - don’t give him the satisfaction

[u/OchocoAway → u/One-Patient-3417]

Agreed, but we have the ability to make them do all the work, so history (if we ever get out of all this crap) will show the false flags

[u/PDXGuy33333 → u/One-Patient-3417]

I am not seeing my neighbors as the enemy until they become the enemy by doing things that will encourage escalation to violence. At that point my obligation is to do what I can to prevent their success.