Trump Demands Jailing of Windy City Leader and State Executive as National Guard Arrive in Metropolis
Former President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday demanded the detainment of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect ICE agents.
"Chicago's Mayor should be jailed for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on his platform Wednesday morning. "The Illinois governor as well!"
Both officials are members of the Democratic party.
These remarks coincide with the deployment of National Guard personnel in the Windy City area following directives from the federal administration, despite strong objections from state officials including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks yet another attempt where Trump attempted to have a Black man unjustly detained," Johnson responded on that day. "I'm not going put."
The governor responded via online channels, declaring: "I will not yield. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of elected officials checking his power. What's next on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?"
As of midweek, military troops from Texas had arrived at the Elwood army reserve center, a military installation approximately 50 miles from Chicago, as the federal government pushes forward with its hardline urban crime policy and immigration enforcement operations.
The president has labeled Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", even though police data indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, such as murders.
That day, two hundred Texas National Guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the region, with another 300 Illinois guard forces preparing to mobilize, according to sources. Officials indicated the troops would not perform law enforcement duties but would secure ICE officers and their facilities.
Military personnel in combat attire with Texas national guard patches were spotted at the military facility in the town. Trucks labeled "Disaster Relief" delivered sanitation facilities and essential items. Mobile units were set up in lines. Extra barriers was placed around the perimeter.
Aviation authorities ordered flight restrictions over the army reserve center for safety concerns until 6 December.
The administration has intensified immigration enforcement in Chicago in the past month, sparking demonstrations, especially near an immigration center in Broadview.
Earlier this week, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action against the federal government, attempting to halt the military dispatch, urging a court to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on Chicago and Illinois, calling it "unlawful and risky".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is scheduled for Thursday.
The mayor also issued an executive order on that day banning federal immigration agents and related personnel from using city-owned property as operation bases for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has charged Trump of using troops as "staged tools" and "chess pieces".
At a news conference on the previous day, he said that the president is trying to "justify and make acceptable the presence of military personnel under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act restricts the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. However, the president has stated he would be prepared to activate the emergency powers, which allows a president to send regular army in states that are unable to suppress an insurrection or are resisting federal law.
After beginning his second term, Trump has sent or discussed sending troops to at least 10 cities, including major metropolitan areas and West Coast locations like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, arguing that the armed forces is necessary to combat crime and defend immigration agents.
Statistics indicates that most violent crime across the US has declined in recent years. In the city, for instance, homicides were reduced 31% to under three hundred through August, according to police data.
New survey data published on that day found that the majority of US citizens oppose the deployment of troops without an foreign danger.