Gov. JB Pritzker (D-IL) made the case on Sunday that President Donald Trump wants “mayhem on the ground” in Chicago to justify sending in more military troops to crack down on violence.
Since last month, federal authorities have targeted illegal immigrants in Chicago as part of “Operation Midway Blitz.” The increased federal presence has prompted violent protests to break out, forcing Trump to activate the National Guard in the blue state.
Pritzker continues to oppose federal intervention in Chicago.
“They want mayhem on the ground. They want to create the war zone, so that they can send in even more troops,” he told CNN host Jake Tapper on State of the Union on Sunday morning.
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The Democratic governor’s comments come one day after he announced that, despite his dissent, Trump planned to federalize 300 Illinois National Guard troops in response to the recent surge in violence. He was given an ultimatum on Saturday to deploy the troops himself, or else the Trump administration would.
“Now they’re claiming they need 300 of Illinois’s National Guard. Well, we didn’t need them before they showed up,” Pritzker said. “What they ought to do is allow us to work with FBI, ATF, DEA, who are civilian law enforcement and understand how to target and take out the bad guys.”
Numerous violent clashes between protesters and immigration agents have taken place in recent weeks, particularly concentrated in the Chicago suburb of Broadview, where an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility is located.
On Saturday, several officers were rammed and boxed in by 10 vehicles. One of the drivers was a woman armed with a semi-automatic weapon, prompting the officers to open fire in defense. The armed assailant, identified as Marimar Martinez, was treated for her gunshot wound and later taken into FBI custody. She has a history of doxxing federal agents.
The Department of Homeland Security denounced the attack, with spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin warning “domestic terrorists” who attack law enforcement “will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem defended federal agents for their actions in Chicago, which she described as a “war zone,” and claimed the city’s residents welcomed their presence.
In response, Pritzker said Noem “doesn’t know what she’s talking about” and argued federal agents are being met with boos instead of applause on the city streets.
“They are the ones that are making it a war zone,” he added. “They need to get out of Chicago. If they’re not going to focus on the worst of the worst, which is what the president said they were going to do, they need to get the heck out.”
Pritzker also claimed federal authorities are detaining some United States citizens as they target illegal immigrants, including children who were zip-tied and elderly people who were “thrown into a U-Haul for three hours” following an immigration raid.
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Trump previously threatened to deploy the National Guard to Chicago, just as he did for Washington, D.C., in August. However, he initially relented because Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson vigorously opposed federal intervention. The president said he wanted their cooperation.
“Chicago’s very interesting, because I watched them say, ‘We don’t need help, we’re safe,’ but two weeks ago, they had six people murdered and they had 24 people hit by bullets,” Trump said last month. “Chicago is a hellhole right now.”