Portland city councilor stands by call for National Guard to disobey orders
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Portland City Councilman Mitch Green reaffirmed his call for National Guard troops to refuse deployment orders, responding to Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek’s assertion that Guard members must follow the chain of command regardless of their personal objections.
“I respectfully disagree with the terminology in the oath of service,” Green told CNN on Tuesday. he said.
“The oath of service says that you are obligated to abide by the Constitution. You have to protect and serve the Constitution. Your duty is against the Constitution, and from time to time you may face an illegal order from your chain of command,” he said.
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Federal agents, including members of the Department of Homeland Security, members of the Border Patrol and police officers, attempt to keep protesters out of a downtown U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility on Oct. 6, 2025, in Portland, Ore. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
“Whether or not you comply with this order at this time will be a decision that any soldier, airman or sailor must make based on their own moral compass,” he added.
previously green was called National Guard members will “disobey” any “illegal order,” claiming to have such a “duty.”
He told CNN that he never refused a deployment or order during his time in the military, but noted that he was never “faced with a clearly illegal order to deploy to an American city.”
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President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, on October 6, 2025. Trump has sought to deploy National Guard troops in several blue cities in an effort to reduce crime. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Green’s latest remarks came a day after the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down one of two temporary restraining orders (TROs) blocking the deployment of the National Guard to Portland.
Because the ruling does not cover either order, Kotek argues that National Guard members in Oregon or any other state “cannot be deployed” until the latter is overturned: NPR reported.
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Gov. Tina Kotek, D-Ore., has resisted the Trump administration’s efforts to deploy the National Guard to Portland. (AP Photo/Craig Mitchelldyer, File)
While Green said neither he nor his office had heard directly from members of the military, he said veterans with ties to active-duty units reported “confusion” and many were “wondering if this is what they signed up for.”
“In the coming days, in the coming weeks, if that’s the case, when the soldiers show up… the soldiers will wake up every morning and say, ‘Is this really constitutional?’ “I hope they will think.”
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Green added that he is “100% prepared” to connect soldiers who choose to defy the order with available resources to help them navigate the legal risks associated with their decision.
“The National Lawyers Guild Military Law Task Force has a website and a one-pager that service members are allowed to have as a brochure, a copy of which is on people that links them to resources,” he said.
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Green continued: “Of course it’s a legal risk they’re going to have to take, but they’re not alone in a community of people making this decision and we’ll have their backs.” continued Green.
