Trump Demands Imprisonment of Chicago Mayor and State Executive as Military Forces Deploy in City
Ex-President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday demanded the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of failing to protect ICE agents.
"Chicago's Mayor should be jailed for failing to secure Immigration agents!" Trump posted on social media early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker as well!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic faction.
These remarks coincide with the arrival of National Guard personnel in the Chicago region under orders from the current government, notwithstanding strong objections from Illinois authorities such as Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks yet another attempt where Trump attempted to have a Black man unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on Wednesday. "I am staying put."
The governor responded via social platforms, declaring: "I will not yield. Trump is now demanding arrests of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What remains on the path to complete autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, military units from the Lone Star State had arrived at the Elwood army reserve center, an army base approximately 50 miles from Chicago, as the administration pushes forward with its aggressive urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
The president has labeled Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", despite police data indicate notable reductions in many offenses, such as homicides.
On Wednesday, 200 state guard members were scheduled to arrive to the region, with another 300 Illinois guard forces preparing to mobilize, per sources. Officials reportedly stated the soldiers would avoid police functions but would secure federal immigration agents and their facilities.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with state guard insignia were spotted at the US army reserve center in the town. Vehicles marked "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off sanitation facilities and other supplies. Trailers were arranged in lines. Extra barriers was placed around the perimeter.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered no-fly zones over the military base for safety concerns until 6 December.
Federal authorities has escalated deportation operations in the city in recent weeks, triggering demonstrations, particularly near an processing facility in Broadview.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action against the administration, seeking to block the military dispatch, urging a federal judge to stop what they describe as "the president's proclaimed 'War'" on the city and state, labeling it "unlawful and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is scheduled for the next day.
The mayor also issued an directive on that day prohibiting federal immigration agents and others from using city-owned property as operation bases for deportation efforts.
The governor has accused the president of using military forces as "staged tools" and "pawns".
During a press briefing on the previous day, he said that the president is trying to "rationalize and make acceptable the deployment 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 said he would be prepared to activate the Insurrection Act, which allows a commander-in-chief to send active duty military in regions that are failing to put down an uprising or are resisting national authority.
After beginning his new administration, the president has dispatched or discussed sending troops to over ten urban centers, such as major metropolitan areas and California cities like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, arguing that the military presence is necessary to combat crime and defend immigration agents.
Data indicates that most violent crime nationwide has decreased in recent years. In the city, for instance, murders were reduced 31% to under three hundred through August, according to law enforcement reports.
A recent poll released on Wednesday found that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the sending of troops without an foreign danger.