The last 40 times or so that I was at the federal courthouse in Portland, Oregon, some portion of it was being set on fire, pummeled with debris and homemade explosive devices, or both. It was also surrounded by a chain-link fence, which hundreds of people would nightly try to shake off its moorings. This was because President Donald Trump had, in the summer of 2020, federal troops occupying the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse for more than a month.
Five years later, all is quiet on the morning of October 3, with fewer than a dozen protesters outside the newly sleek courthouse, holding small pre-made signs that read, "GUARD: GO HOME!"
