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Portland, Oregon, business owners sounded the alarm over the city’s crime crisis Tuesday as President Donald Trump faces legal roadblocks in keeping federal troops on the ground to help mitigate the problem.
“We need help here,” said Amy Nichols, whose local business has been the victim of 10 break-ins.
After years of struggle, Nichols believes the president’s push to keep National Guard troops in Portland could help shift things in the right direction and draw greater attention to the problems locals face.
“Something needs to be done, and if this is what we need to do to get our leaders paying attention to what’s happening in Portland, then I think it’s a good thing,” she told “Fox & Friends First.”
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“We’ve been struggling for a long time since 2020, and it’s really difficult to do business in downtown Portland, and we need all the help we can get. If this creates a little bit of peace in our city and shows that there really are some issues happening, then I think that it’s for the best.”
Loretta Guzman, owner of Bison Coffeehouse in Portland, has had her own run-ins with crime.
She previously told Fox News about her plans to install bulletproof glass after criminals shattered her coffee shop’s windows, but crime also invaded her personal life when she heard gunfire while in bed one night.
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Guzman jumped up and looked around but saw nothing. Moments later, her nephew’s girlfriend knocked on her door to tell her he’d been shot.
“When she called 911, she didn’t get a response, so I called 911 and I got a recording in the middle of a life-and-death situation,” Guzman recalled.
“I tried to go get my car so I could try to save him, and people were standing around when I pulled up next to his car and nobody would help me lift him.”
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Her nephew, who weighed approximately 240 pounds, was too heavy for her to lift into the vehicle to transport for medical attention.
“So he ended up dying with me praying on him,” she said.
Guzman is unsure of how much difference federal troops can make for businesses, but she believes they may be able to make federal buildings safer.
“I don’t think it’ll affect us, our businesses. We already struggle every day, every week with the crime and the drugs and the unsafeness that comes with being here in our city right now.”
“It’s like our leaders have abandoned public safety for us,” she added.
Guzman said her nephew’s killer has never been apprehended.
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