CHICAGO — Dozens of protesters spoke out Monday against the Trump administration’s reported plan to send federal agents in to crack down on violent crime in Chicago.
Protesters gathered at Federal Plaza downtown to demonstrate against the administration’s plan to send 150 or more federal agents to the city as soon as this week.
“We want to send a message to the Trump administration that continued harassment of peaceful protesters has to stop,” organizer Bishop Gregg Greer said.
Facing criticism after another violent weekend, Chicago Police Department Superintendent David Brown sidestepped questions about federal help Monday, only agreeing to assistance in general.
“I don’t do politics. I have enough high level violent crime, mob action on my plate,” Brown said. “We’ll take any and all help.”
At least 63 people were shot over the weekend in Chicago, and nine of the shooting victims were younger than 18 according to Chicago police. Twelve people were killed.
Specifics of what the federal agents would do during a deployment are unknown, but President Donald Trump hinted at such action over the weekend.
Trump signed an executive order directing federal ”Rapid Deployment Teams” to protect federal property like monuments and statues under threat from protesters.
For weeks, the president has been using violent crime as a political wedge issue, saying local leaders are not doing enough.
“They’re all Democrats, liberal, left-wing democrats. It’s almost like they think this is going to be this way forever, where in Chicago 68 people were shot and 18 died last week, we’re not going to put up with that,” Trump said.
The president of Chicago’s police union wrote a formal request to President Trump asking for federal help over the weekend.
Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara Jr., wrote to the president that Chicago was in a state of “chaos” on a regular basis, and called Mayor Lori Lightfoot a “complete failure” who is either “unwilling or unable to maintain law and order.”
Lightfoot responded Monday, saying the city doesn’t need the kind of help federal agents would offer and the president needs to do more to stop the flow of guns to the city.
“We don’t need federal agents without any insignia taking people off the streets and holding them, I think, unlawfully. That’s not what we need,” Lightfoot said.
The situation in Portland has raised serious questions about whether the Department of Homeland Security, which is an agency created to deal with national security threats, should be used against American citizens – especially when local elected leaders oppose their presence.
ACLU of Illinois Executive Director Colleen Connell said they are concerned about the “lawfulness” of Trump’s threat to send federal agents into Chicago.
“The federal government basically… does not have authority to come in as an occupying force of a state or a local area,” Connell said.
The Department of Homeland Security said it does not comment on potential operations, while protesters in Chicago are questioning whether this is more about politics than public safety.
