If Trump sends a Portland-style military action to Chicago, it would represent a dramatic escalation between Trump and Mayor Lightfoot.
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In a Sunday Twitter post, President Trump said, “Look at Portland, where the pols are just fine with 50 days of anarchy. We sent in help. Look at New York, Chicago, Philadelphia. NO!” Drew Angerer/Getty Images
President Donald Trump and his administration hinted Sunday that federal agents may be deployed to Chicago as soon as this week to crack down on protests and gun violence in a military-style response similar to Portland, Oregon.
If Trump sends a Portland-style action to Chicago, it would represent a dramatic escalation between Trump and Mayor Lori Lightfoot regarding how to deal with the city’s ongoing battles against gun violence and demonstrations against racial injustice and police brutality.
In a Sunday Twitter post, Trump said, “The Radical Left Democrats, who totally control Biden, will destroy our Country as we know it. Unimaginably bad things would happen to America. Look at Portland, where the pols are just fine with 50 days of anarchy. We sent in help. Look at New York, Chicago, Philadelphia. NO!”
Oregon’s attorney general, Ellen Rosenblum, in a federal lawsuit filed Friday protesting heavy-handed tactics by federal law enforcement agents, said they are “carrying out law enforcement actions without wearing any identifying information, even so much as the agency that employs them.”
Moreover, the federal agents “have been using unmarked vehicles to drive around downtown Portland, detain protesters, and place them into the officers’ unmarked vehicles, removing them from public without either arresting them or stating the basis for an arrest, since at least Tuesday, July 14,” the lawsuit alleges.
Chicago is one of several liberal, Democratic-run cities targeted by Trump in coordination with his reelection campaign to reinforce his message that he is for “law and order” while framing rival Joe Biden as soft on crime and anti-police.
Here are the latest developments:
* In the past days, Trump, in remarks and on Twitter, has been saying he will be taking unspecified actions in Chicago and other cities whether local officials are asking for federal assistance. He has assailed Lightfoot and Gov. J.B. Pritzker for not calling him to ask for help, which the Democratic leaders did not do because they consider his outreach no more than a press stunt.
On Fox News Sunday, Trump was asked by host Chris Wallace about shooting deaths in New York and Chicago, and how he explains what he is going to do.
Trump replied, “I explain it very simply by saying that they’re Democrat-run cities, they are liberally run. They are stupidly run.”
* White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, in an interview with Fox News anchor Maria Bartiromo, said he was working on plans for Chicago and other cities with Attorney General William Barr and Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf.
“And you will see something rolled out this week as we start to go in and make sure that the communities, whether it’s Chicago, or Portland, or Milwaukee or someplace across the heartland of the country. We need to make sure that our communities are safe,” Meadows said.
* This potential action by Trump comes in this context. Chicago has been grappling with gun violence and police misconduct for years; Trump has been slamming the city since his 2016 presidential campaign. Lightfoot took office in May 2019.
But on Lightfoot’s watch, the problems continue and are made more difficult when protests in Chicago at the end of May were ignited by the death of George Floyd, an African American killed by a white Minneapolis police officer.
Over the weekend, at least 55 people were shot and seven killed. The White House keeps track of and highlights Chicago’s toll of violent deaths.
* Trump contemplates a move in Chicago as the issues of police brutality, gun violence and a revitalized civil justice movement are intersecting before the presidential election.
As part of the civil justice movement, protesters – or local officials – are taking down monuments of leaders associated with slavery or racism in the wake of Floyd’s death. In June, Trump signed an executive order he said could further protect monuments as he objects to taking down Confederate statues.
In Chicago’s Grant Park, protesters, trying to tear down the Christopher Columbus statute, clashed with police on Saturday night. A video showed a teen activist being punched in the mouth by a Chicago police officer.
Lightfoot in a Saturday statement criticized those protesters who “turned violent” and said reports of police use of “excessive force” are “unacceptable.”
This caught the attention of the Trump campaign Sunday. In a release, the campaign, noting 18 officers were injured, said Biden and Democrats want to give “criminals a free pass to destroy some of our nation’s greatest cities.”
Lightfoot is at odds with the Fraternal Order of Police Trump-friendly president, John Catanzara Jr. He posted a letter to Trump on Saturday on Facebook, asking for federal government “help” to fight “chaos” in Chicago.
In reaction to that, a group of city, state and Cook County elected officials on Sunday in a statement condemned Catanzara’s request for Trump’s intervention.
The group said, “This is a blatant attempt to instigate further violence against the young people who are leading the fight for real safety and justice in Chicago, and is particularly frightening given the situation in Portland, where unidentified federal agents have been throwing protesters into unmarked vehicles.”
President Donald Trump and his administration hinted Sunday that federal agents may be deployed to Chicago as soon as this week to crack down on protests and gun violence in a military-style response similar to Portland, Oregon.
If Trump sends a Portland-style action to Chicago, it would represent a dramatic escalation between Trump and Mayor Lori Lightfoot regarding how to deal with the city’s ongoing battles against gun violence and demonstrations against racial injustice and police brutality.
In a Sunday Twitter post, Trump said, “The Radical Left Democrats, who totally control Biden, will destroy our Country as we know it. Unimaginably bad things would happen to America. Look at Portland, where the pols are just fine with 50 days of anarchy. We sent in help. Look at New York, Chicago, Philadelphia. NO!”
Oregon’s attorney general, Ellen Rosenblum, in a federal lawsuit filed Friday protesting heavy-handed tactics by federal law enforcement agents, said they are “carrying out law enforcement actions without wearing any identifying information, even so much as the agency that employs them.”
Moreover, the federal agents “have been using unmarked vehicles to drive around downtown Portland, detain protesters, and place them into the officers’ unmarked vehicles, removing them from public without either arresting them or stating the basis for an arrest, since at least Tuesday, July 14,” the lawsuit alleges.
Chicago is one of several liberal, Democratic-run cities targeted by Trump in coordination with his reelection campaign to reinforce his message that he is for “law and order” while framing rival Joe Biden as soft on crime and anti-police.
Here are the latest developments:
* In the past days, Trump, in remarks and on Twitter, has been saying he will be taking unspecified actions in Chicago and other cities whether local officials are asking for federal assistance. He has assailed Lightfoot and Gov. J.B. Pritzker for not calling him to ask for help, which the Democratic leaders did not do because they consider his outreach no more than a press stunt.
On Fox News Sunday, Trump was asked by host Chris Wallace about shooting deaths in New York and Chicago, and how he explains what he is going to do.
Trump replied, “I explain it very simply by saying that they’re Democrat-run cities, they are liberally run. They are stupidly run.”
* White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, in an interview with Fox News anchor Maria Bartiromo, said he was working on plans for Chicago and other cities with Attorney General William Barr and Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf.
“And you will see something rolled out this week as we start to go in and make sure that the communities, whether it’s Chicago, or Portland, or Milwaukee or someplace across the heartland of the country. We need to make sure that our communities are safe,” Meadows said.
* This potential action by Trump comes in this context. Chicago has been grappling with gun violence and police misconduct for years; Trump has been slamming the city since his 2016 presidential campaign. Lightfoot took office in May 2019.
But on Lightfoot’s watch, the problems continue and are made more difficult when protests in Chicago at the end of May were ignited by the death of George Floyd, an African American killed by a white Minneapolis police officer.
Over the weekend, at least 55 people were shot and seven killed. The White House keeps track of and highlights Chicago’s toll of violent deaths.
* Trump contemplates a move in Chicago as the issues of police brutality, gun violence and a revitalized civil justice movement are intersecting before the presidential election.
As part of the civil justice movement, protesters – or local officials – are taking down monuments of leaders associated with slavery or racism in the wake of Floyd’s death. In June, Trump signed an executive order he said could further protect monuments as he objects to taking down Confederate statues.
In Chicago’s Grant Park, protesters, trying to tear down the Christopher Columbus statute, clashed with police on Saturday night. A video showed a teen activist being punched in the mouth by a Chicago police officer.
Lightfoot in a Saturday statement criticized those protesters who “turned violent” and said reports of police use of “excessive force” are “unacceptable.”
This caught the attention of the Trump campaign Sunday. In a release, the campaign, noting 18 officers were injured, said Biden and Democrats want to give “criminals a free pass to destroy some of our nation’s greatest cities.”
Lightfoot is at odds with the Fraternal Order of Police Trump-friendly president, John Catanzara Jr. He posted a letter to Trump on Saturday on Facebook, asking for federal government “help” to fight “chaos” in Chicago.
In reaction to that, a group of city, state and Cook County elected officials on Sunday in a statement condemned Catanzara’s request for Trump’s intervention.
The group said, “This is a blatant attempt to instigate further violence against the young people who are leading the fight for real safety and justice in Chicago, and is particularly frightening given the situation in Portland, where unidentified federal agents have been throwing protesters into unmarked vehicles.”
WARNING TO THIEVES, RIOTERS and other MALCONTENTS: THE FEDS DON'T BELIEVE IN I-BONDS. ONCE TAKEN INTO FEDERAL CUSTODY, YOU WILL BE SPENDING YOUR TIME AT A FEDERAL FACILITY SOMEWHERE / ANYWHERE IN THE U.S, PENDING THE OUTCOME OF YOUR TRIAL.
Come on in. Take control of this lawless society in Chicago. The political leadership let all the violent criminals out of jail. And then they act surprised when there are so many shootings and murders in the city. They immediately release violent protesters that injure the police and bystanders and all looters and all arsonists without any charge. They just come back to the scene and cause more destruction. The streets are filled with lawlessness and anarchy. The mayor, aldermen and other elected officials are letting this all happen before our eyes. The local and national news media cover the riots and anarchy as if it's a police brutality problem. It's really an elected official problem. They are the problem. Your help is welcome.
ReplyDeleteMr. President...You don't have to be asked to send in federal assistance...You have a responsibility to send them in to protect the citizens from the violence and lawlessness that is occurring here on a daily basis. What are you waiting for
ReplyDeleteLightfoot gets on MSNBC and CNN and criticizes Trump's policies. But when it comes to ensuring the safety of Chicago citizens, the security of businesses and property, all she can parrot is the BS about 1st amendment rights, peaceful protests and "small" groups hijacking their demonstrations. As for the rest of us, wondering what shoe will drop next, we have a police superintendent who will say anything the mayor wants him to say. All the while the violence and destruction are described by Lightfoot as "unacceptable".
ReplyDeleteOK, fine, you don't accept it. What are you doing about it? Does it underscore your inability to secure the city? Does it underscore the shit show you allowed to fester and grow. Do you think throwing money at every social malcontent is going to eradicate the problem. Wearing a green cowboy hat for the census, showing up at LGBTQ events does nothing for the rest of the city. Towing cars away from churches because worshippers choose to pray is ok as is threatening to lock up churchgoers for assembling, but interfering with black block Antifa rioters isn't. Meanwhile Illinoisans are fleeing the state. The tax base is evaporating, no new businesses are sprouting up and those already here are filing Chapter 11. Federal help? Oh yeah, lets let the federal government step in and bail out and compensate for the millions in damage to the businesses destroyed by your "peaceful" protesters. Lets strip citizens in police districts of protection so you can put a 300 police perimeter around your block. Lets crow about what a great job you're doing and consider putting a 5th star on the Chicago flag for your efforts. And while your police are being pelted with rocks, bottles, urine and everything else by these "peaceful" protesters, lets give everyone the number to COPA so they can shift the blame, with media participation onto the police. The fact of the matter is YOU HAVEN'T SOLVED ANYTHING!
Somewhere you have the idea that the majority of Chicagoans are behind you. They are not. Your status as a mayor is attributable to a split in the vote and low voter participation. In a generous description, it would be the citizens sense of fair play, affording you the opportunity to do what you claimed you can do. But like the 2008 presidential election, your sense of self, your believing your own bullshit, with a healthy dose of arrogance to anyone who doesn't agree with you has turned off thousands of life long Chicagoans. You claim your the face of Chicago? Don't think so. A smart politician would recognize the value of federal assistance to quell the violence, try to do something about the shootings, and vandalism, the CTA's Red line, but not you. No, you'll get on the tube and point your fingers at the President.
Given the choice between being safe and listening to platitudes about social justice by groups that really aren't indigenous to Chicago, my guess is most would opt for safety. You just don't get it. And you probably never will. So you have about 3 years left to turn things around. How many of us will still be living here when that time comes? I'm sure the exodus will continue. Good job Larry.