By CLAIRE RUSH and GENE JOHNSON, Associated Press<\/p>\n
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) \u2014 A federal trial over whether President Donald Trump can\u00a0deploy the National Guard<\/a>\u00a0to Portland, Oregon, began Wednesday, with a police commander describing on the witness stand how federal agents at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building repeatedly fired tear gas at nonviolent protesters.<\/p>\n Attorneys for the city and state are attempting to block Trump from deploying troops by arguing\u00a0that they aren\u2019t needed<\/a>\u00a0to enforce the laws and that the president should not be allowed to use the military to remedy a situation worsened by federal agents.<\/p>\n The trial is expected to last three days and to include testimony from federal officials as well.<\/p>\n Portland Police Bureau Cmdr. Franz Schoening called federal agents\u2019 actions at the building, which has been the site of mostly small protests since June, \u201cstartling.\u201d State and federal law prohibit police agencies from using munitions, including tear gas, the way the federal officers have, Schoening said.<\/p>\n City police officers themselves had been tear-gassed and forced to pull away from the scene, Schoening said.<\/p>\n At one point during a larger protest on Oct. 18, a federal agent fired smoke or tear gas munitions from a 40-millimeter (1.57-inch) launcher. One skipped off the driveway in front of the building and landed on the roof, where other federal officers were posted. Those officers then responded by firing further munitions at protesters, Schoening said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe didn\u2019t see any violent conduct or behavior that would have precipitated that use of force. It appeared to be triggered by the federal officer\u2019s deployment of that munition,\u201d Schoening testified. \u201cOur officers were in close proximity and were struck by federal munitions.\u201d<\/p>\n U.S. District Court Judge Karin Immergut, a Trump appointee, is presiding. She\u00a0previously issued two temporary restraining orders<\/a>\u00a0in the case, blocking the troops pending further litigation. She found that Trump had failed to show he had met the conditions set out by Congress for using the military domestically. She described his assessment of Portland, which Trump called \u201cwar-ravaged,\u201d as \u201csimply\u00a0untethered to the facts<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n One of Immergut\u2019s orders was\u00a0paused last week<\/a>\u00a0by a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Court of Appeals. But late Tuesday, the appeals court vacated\u00a0that decision<\/a>\u00a0and said it would rehear the matter before an 11-judge panel.<\/p>\n The complex case comes as Democratic cities targeted by Trump for military involvement \u2014 including Chicago, which has filed a separate lawsuit on the issue \u2014\u00a0are pushing back<\/a>. They argue the president has not met the legal requirements to deploy troops and doing so would violate states\u2019 sovereignty.<\/p>\n The administration argues that it needs the troops because protests have impeded law enforcement operations, including blocking the building\u2019s driveway and hindering federal vehicles from exiting or entering.<\/p>\n