With Donald Trump’s crime crackdown in D.C. looking like a clear success, the presisdent is looking to expand to other cities, with Chicago being atop that list.
When Trump announced his plans, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson rejected it.
This weekend, seven murders took place in the Windy City, with dozens more injured from gun violence, and that does not even account for other violent crimes and carjackings.
D.C. and Chicago are two different animals in terms of what Trump can get away with in terms of federalization.
Typically, the National Guard is deployed at the request of a state's governor, not sent in unilaterally by the president, save for very rare exceptions.
That aside, Trump announced that he wanted to expand his crackdown on crime to Chicago, threatening to send in the Guard.
Trump stated that he could “solve Chicago within one week, maybe less. But within one week we’ll have no crime in Chicago, like no crime in D.C.”
Some local leaders, as well as Pritzker and Johnson, have since rejected Trump’s plan.
For instance, United Giving Hope Pastor Julie Contreras stated, "These detentions, these operatives, these raids have an impact on human beings.”
Pritzker added, "If they do, they'll be in court pretty quickly, because that is illegal. Posse Comitatus does not allow U.S. troops into U.S. cities to do, you know, to fight crime, to be involved in law enforcement. That's not their job. National Guard troops, any kind of troops on the streets of an American city, don't belong unless there is an insurrection, unless there is truly an emergency; there is not."
Johnson also pushed back, stating, "We are standing up to Donald Trump. Are you with me? We're going to stand we gotta stand firm. We're gonna stand strong.”
If you are going to reject Trump’s plan, at least do something on your own, such as California Gov. Gavin Newsom sending out crime suppression units, which is basically Trump’s plan being carried out on the state level.
Instead, nothing has been done in Chicago, and this weekend, seven people were killed and more than three dozen were injured.
This all took place while Johnson issued an executive order in Chicago blocking his police from working with the feds. He stated, "This executive order makes it emphatically clear that this president is not going to come in and deputize our police department.”
I watched dozens of videos over the weekend of Chicago residents pushing back against Johnson on this front. Many are welcoming Trump’s involvement. But is it enough for voters to wake up to the fact that Democrats have been running Chicago since 1931, and all it has done is become less safe with each passing year? The only people who can change this are Chicagoans at the ballot box. Until then, they will continue to suffer under elected officials who protect criminals at the expense of law-abiding citizens.
