U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday, October 8, demanded the imprisonment of Chicago’s mayor, Brandon Johnson, and Illinois’ governor, JB Pritzker, both Democrats, as his administration prepared to deploy military troops to the streets of the third-largest U.S. city.
Neither Johnson nor Pritzker has been accused of criminal wrongdoing, but both have become outspoken opponents of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown and the deployment of National Guard troops in Democratic-leaning cities.
Trump’s call to jail the two elected officials comes as another high-profile rival, former FBI Director James Comey, was due to appear in court to face criminal charges widely criticized as flimsy. Comey, who has denied wrongdoing, is the first of Trump’s major political opponents to face prosecution, and he is expected to plead not guilty to charges of lying to Congress. Trump has frequently vowed to use the power of the federal government to target his enemies, and his Justice Department is also investigating several other high-profile critics.
On his social media platform, Trump accused Johnson and Pritzker of failing to protect immigration officers. “Chicago Mayor should be in jail for failing to protect Ice Officers! Governor Pritzker also!” Trump wrote, referring to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel.
In response, Mayor Johnson, who had signed an executive order creating an “ICE Free Zone” that prohibits federal immigration agents from using city property, stated on social media, “This is not the first time Trump has tried to have a Black man unjustly arrested. I’m not going anywhere.” Governor Pritzker likewise pushed back, stating, “Trump is now calling for the arrest of elected representatives checking his power. What else is left on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?”
Despite staunch opposition from Pritzker, Johnson, and other state leaders, hundreds of Texas National Guard soldiers have gathered at an Army facility outside Chicago. Trump has ordered Guard troops to Chicago and Portland, Oregon, following earlier deployments to Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., often defying local officials who argue that Trump’s claims of lawlessness do not reflect reality.
Trump has publicly stated that his goal is simple: “STOP CRIME IN AMERICA!” He has also threatened to invoke an anti-insurrection law, last used during the 1992 Los Angeles riots to sidestep any court orders blocking the deployments.
Violent crime has been falling in many U.S. cities, and the National Guard troops have so far been mainly used to protect federal facilities, not to fight street crime. Administration officials, however, have adopted a harsher tone, with Todd Blanche, the No. 2 Justice Department official, stating on Fox News, “What we have going on right now is literally domestic terrorism in Chicago.”
A federal judge on Monday permitted the deployment to proceed in Chicago for the time being, though another federal judge has blocked the deployment to Portland. A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Wednesday found that most Americans oppose the deployment of troops without an external threat.
