Trump Calls for Imprisonment of Chicago Mayor and State Executive as Military Forces Deploy in City
Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday demanded the detainment of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect ICE agents.
"The city's leader should be jailed for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on his platform Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker as well!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic party.
Trump's statements come alongside the arrival of state military troops in the Windy City area under orders from the federal administration, notwithstanding strong objections from state officials such as the governor and mayor.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump attempted to have a Black man wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on that day. "I'm not going anywhere."
The governor responded via online channels, declaring: "I will not back down. Now Trump is demanding arrests of democratically chosen representatives checking his power. What remains on the path to complete authoritarianism?"
As of midweek, military units from Texas had reached the Elwood training facility, an army base approximately 50 miles from Chicago, as the administration pushes forward with its hardline urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has called Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", even though police data indicate notable reductions in many offenses, including murders.
That day, two hundred state guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the region, with another 300 state military forces preparing to mobilize, per reports. Authorities reportedly stated the soldiers would avoid law enforcement duties but would protect ICE officers and government buildings.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with state guard patches were observed at the US army reserve center in Elwood. Vehicles labeled "Disaster Relief" dropped off portable toilets and essential items. Trailers were arranged in lines. Extra barriers was installed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered flight restrictions over the army reserve center for safety concerns until 6 December.
The administration has intensified deportation operations in the city in recent weeks, sparking demonstrations, particularly near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, state and city filed a lawsuit against the administration, attempting to halt the military dispatch, asking a court to stop what they describe as "the president's proclaimed 'Battle'" on Chicago and Illinois, labeling it "unlawful and risky".
A court hearing on their case is set for the next day.
The mayor also signed an executive order on that day banning federal immigration agents and others from using municipal facilities as staging areas for enforcement actions.
The governor has accused Trump of using military forces as "political props" and "chess pieces".
During a press briefing on Tuesday, he said that Trump is attempting to "justify and make acceptable the deployment of military personnel under his personal authority."
The historic federal law restricts the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. Yet, the president has said he would be prepared to activate the emergency powers, which permits a president to send regular army in regions that are failing to put down an uprising or are resisting federal law.
After beginning his new administration, Trump has dispatched or discussed sending troops to over ten cities, including Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, claiming that the armed forces is essential to fight violence and protect immigration agents.
Data indicates that most violent crime across the US has decreased in recent years. In Chicago, for example, homicides were down 31% to under three hundred through August, per police data.
A recent poll published on Wednesday revealed that most Americans disapprove of the sending of military forces without an foreign danger.