CHICAGO – Chicago mayors are defying the threat of President Donald Trump, deploying National Guard to wind cities to fight crime and scoping legal measures to prevent soldiers from overtaking the city.
On Friday, Trump spoke about the controversial deployment of the National Guard in Washington, D.C., saying Chicago and New York City are coming next. He described the deployment of the country’s capital as a bid to clean up crime, but critics dismiss the move as nothing more than a political overreach.
“We don’t need security guards,” Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson told NBC News. “This is not our military role. The brave men and women who signed up to serve our country did not sign up to occupy American cities.”
Johnson also noted a reduction in city murders, shootings and car thefts. Chicago police crime data earlier this month show that murders have fallen 31% from the same period last year, shootings have fallen 36%, and vehicle theft has fallen 26%.
“We make sure that what we do in Chicago is investing in people, youth employment, mental health care, services, building more affordable homes, and that we have all the resources we need for our Detective Bureau… That’s why we’re looking at the outcomes we’re experiencing now,” he said.
“We are occupying our city with our military. That’s not how we can build a safe and affordable community,” he added.
Johnson further questioned Sunday why Trump cut his Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Medicaid budgets if he wanted to cut federal investment in violence prevention and reduce violence in big cities.
“The National Guard is not going to put food on people’s tables. The National Guard is not going to reduce unemployment,” Johnson said.
The mayor’s office said in a statement Saturday that it is working with the Chicago-based governor of Illinois and Cook County.
Edwin Yongka, director of communications and public policy for the Illinois branch of the American Civil Liberties Union, said Trump would face legal challenges if security guards were deployed in Chicago without justification.
“There is a higher barrier (than DC) for the president to send the National Guard to Chicago, because there is a reason or an agreement from the governor of Illinois.
He also said the Illinois ACLU is “keeping an eye on” how they will challenge the streets, arrest, sweep of detention or use excessive force when troops are deployed.
Speaking in the oval office Friday, Trump said he had no concrete plans for Chicago and had never spoken to Johnson about the deployment of the unit.
However, he insisted that people in the city were “screaming for us to come.”
“When we’re ready, we’ll come in and straighten Chicago like DC Chicago did,” he said.
On Saturday, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker accused Trump of X of “trying to manufacture a crisis, politicize Americans in uniforms, and continuing to abuse the powers of distracting the pain that is causing families.”
The Chicago City Council’s Public Safety Commission chair told NBC Chicago about the need to reduce crime in the city, but said the threat to Trump’s National Guard was misplaced.
“We’re still seeing more robberies, carjackings, thefts and break-ins than we can accept. We have something to do, but we need some help that makes sense.” “The Federal Guard is not going to make a difference to carjacking in Chicago. If he really wants to help, we’ll cut 2,000 officers short. Unfortunately, that’s not what Trump is talking about.”
Trump also threatened to deploy his guard to Baltimore, attacking Maryland Gov. Wes Moore on social media.
Moore said in a statement that Trump “want to attack his country’s biggest city from behind a desk rather than walking down the streets with the people he represents.”
Trump uses the National Guard in an unconventional way compared to past presidents.
Security guards are usually required to undergo crises that include natural disasters and civil unrest. In June, Trump deployed thousands of security and Marines to Los Angeles amid protests over immigrant attacks against the wishes of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.
The current DC deployment is also raising eyebrows. DC police data suggests that the figures are touted as positions against crime, but that violent crime in the country’s capital has declined by 26% compared to last year.
Shaquille Brewster and Selina Guevara reported from Marlene Lentan of Chicago and Los Angeles.
