For City Councilor Liz Breadon, President Trump’s musings of sending National Guard troops into Boston for law enforcement carry a hint of her youth in the Troubles-era Northern Ireland, with the idea of armed troops facing off against average people on the streets.

The situations aren’t the same, she said, noting that during much of the second half of the 20th-century Northern Ireland was an active conflict zone with a long history of sectarian violence. But there’s an echo.

“When there are armored vehicles in the civilian streets, it does not feel good,” said the progressive councilor who represents Allston and Brighton.

“It creates the possibility of bad situations” in which some local kid, perhaps, loses their head and tries to fight back, she said. “Then all bets are off.”

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