Federal agents were trying to play nice with anti-ICE protesters, but the gloves are finally coming off.
After a federal judge denied President Donald Trump's request to use National Guard troops in Portland, the game changed.
Seeing the recent escalation of violence in Chicago, federal authorities are now being a bit more aggressive in making arrests.
Both Chicago and Portland have become hot spots for federal ICE agents, and the judiciary is not helping Trump get things under control.
Trump wants to use National Guard troops to protect agents on the ground, especially after what happened over the weekend near Chicago, but judges insist that it is not yet an emergency.
To that point, Trump had to think that seeing U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut's name on the docket was good for him, as he appointed her to the bench, but even she blocked the president's push to use the National Guard in Portland.
Trump is not giving up, however, with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stating, "We're very confident in the president's legal authority to do this. And we're very confident we will win on the merits of the law."
As I noted, the situation in Chicago is getting uglier by the day, and the Windy City's mayor just poured a few gallons of gasoline on that fire.
After Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s detail was denied access to a municipal facility last week, and ICE agents were boxed in by protesters and physically threatened, Mayor Brandon Johnson, in his infinite wisdom, has decided to create “ICE-FREE Zones” in the city.
He stated, "Today, we are signing an executive order aimed at reining in this out-of-control administration. The order establishes ICE-free zones. That means that city property and unwilling private businesses will no longer serve as staging grounds for these raids."
If I were Trump, I would pull every federal agent out of that city, then make sure voters know that he tried to help and were fought every step of the way. Pritzker and Johnson are the politicians the people of that city and state voted into office, so let them reap the results of their choices. On the flip side, I would be taking out ads every week to show the crime, shooting, and murder rates in that city, asking residents who they think is capable of doing a better job for them.
After the judge blocked the deployment of the Guard in Portland, agents are now taking far more aggressive actions to protect themselves.
During a recent protest, they were quick to deploy red tear gas against aggressive protesters and started putting people in cuffs.
While the courts have blocked Trump, he can still allow federal agents to be active against rioters, and the White House confirmed that is precisely what he is doing. A White House spokesperson stated, "The facts haven’t changed: President Trump exercised his lawful authority to protect federal assets and personnel in Portland following violent riots and attacks on law enforcement. We expect to be vindicated by a higher court.”
The insanity of this is that Portland residents are spewing the same rhetoric as the Democrats are, yet you can go down the rabbit hole on YouTube and see video after video of the violence in the streets directed at ICE agents trying to do their jobs. Yet, somehow, Trump is supposed to be seen as the bad guy here. It’s why I would tell him to forget the military and forget these cities, honestly. These people apparently love living with high crime rates and violence, so let them do so, and remind everyone every day that you tried to help stop it but were told to leave.
