Trump Calls for Imprisonment of Windy City Mayor and Illinois Governor as National Guard Arrive in City
Ex-President Donald Trump on midweek called for the detainment of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"The city's leader belongs behind bars for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump posted on his platform early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor as well!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic party.
Trump's statements coincide with the deployment of state military troops in the Windy City area following directives from the current government, notwithstanding strong objections from state officials such as Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents yet another attempt where Trump has sought to have an African American leader unjustly detained," Johnson responded on that day. "I am staying anywhere."
The governor responded via online channels, stating: "I will not back down. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What's next on the road toward full-blown autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, National Guard troops from the Lone Star State had reached the Elwood army reserve center, a military installation approximately 50 miles from the city, as the federal government pushes forward with its aggressive urban crime policy and immigration enforcement operations.
The president has labeled Chicago a "crime-ridden disaster zone", despite official statistics indicate notable reductions in many offenses, including murders.
On Wednesday, 200 Texas National Guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred state military forces readying for deployment, per sources. Officials indicated the soldiers would not perform police functions but would secure federal immigration agents and their facilities.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with state guard insignia were observed at the military facility in Elwood. Vehicles marked "Disaster Relief" delivered sanitation facilities and other supplies. Trailers were set up in lines. Additional fencing was installed around the perimeter.
Aviation authorities ordered no-fly zones over the army reserve center for security reasons until 6 December.
Federal authorities has escalated immigration enforcement in Chicago in recent weeks, triggering protests, particularly near an processing facility in Broadview.
Earlier this week, Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit targeting the administration, seeking to block the military dispatch, asking a court to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on Chicago and Illinois, labeling it "illegal and risky".
Legal proceedings on their case is scheduled for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also issued an executive order on that day banning ICE officers and others from using city-owned property as staging areas for enforcement actions.
The governor has charged the president of using troops as "staged tools" and "pawns".
At a news conference on Tuesday, Pritzker said that the president is attempting to "rationalize and normalize the presence of military personnel under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act limits the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. However, the president has stated he would be willing to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows a commander-in-chief to dispatch regular army in states that are failing to suppress an uprising or are defying national authority.
After beginning his second term, Trump has dispatched or discussed sending troops to at least 10 urban centers, including Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the armed forces is essential to combat crime and defend ICE officers.
Data indicates that serious offenses nationwide has decreased in the past few years. In Chicago, for example, murders were down nearly one-third to under three hundred through late summer, according to police data.
New survey data published on Wednesday revealed that most Americans disapprove of the sending of military forces without an external threat.
