Federal authorities pushing for National Guard deployment in Portland gave Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek a tight timeline Saturday: Either call up 200 guard members on her own authority in the next half day, or they would.

“If [Oregon National Guard] forces are not mobilized in the next 12 hours, the Secretary of War may direct the mobilization of as many members of the ORNG has he may deem necessary,” Timothy Rieger, a major general in the National Guard Bureau, wrote in a memo signed shortly before 11:30 a.m. Pacific Time.

“To be clear,” Rieger wrote, “we believe time is of the essence and failure to mobilize sufficient forces quickly to address the situation may risk lives and property damage.” The National Guard Bureau is a federal agency within the Pentagon that coordinates federal respo

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