Chicago mayor signs executive order against possible National Guard deployment
The order expressly asks the Republican leader to back off his threat to send the Guard to the city and reiterates that the Chicago Police Department will continue to operate under local control.
Johnson in Congress/ Saul Loeb
Chicago's Democratic Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order on Saturday detailing how the city will try to respond to a National Guard deployment by President Donald Trump. In his order, Johnson established the so-called "Protecting Chicago Initiative," whose main objective is, according to the document, to safeguard the constitutional rights of the city's residents in the face of the "possibility of imminent militarized immigration or National Guard deployment."
Similarly, the order expressly asks the Republican leader to back off his threat to send the Guard into the city and reiterates that the Chicago Police Department will continue to operate under local control. The Democratic mayor's order comes after Trump commented last week that the White House would focus its efforts on reducing Chicago's high crime rate after deploying the National Guard to Washington, D.C.
Politics
National Guard already working on the 'beautification' of DC: Cleanup and trash pickup
Joaquín Núñez
"Chicago’s a mess. You have an incompetent mayor. Grossly incompetent, and we’ll straighten that one out probably next. That will be our next one after this. And it won’t even be tough," the president commented at the White House.
"We don't want military checkpoints or armored vehicles on our streets."
"The City of Chicago will do everything in our power to defend our democracy and protect our communities. With this executive order, we send a resounding message to the federal government: we do not need nor want an unconstitutional and illegal military occupation of our city," Johnson said in a statement.
Likewise, the Democratic mayor explained that he will do everything possible to protect the city from illegitimate actions and federal power, assuring that both could cause profound damage to Chicago. "We do not want military checkpoints or armored vehicles on our streets, and we do not want to see families ripped apart. We will take any action necessary to protect the rights of all Chicagoans. Protecting Chicago is the next step in the work we have been doing to defend our city from federal overreach and illegal action," she detailed.
Bowser praised Trump's deployment
"We greatly appreciate the surge of officers that enhance what MPD has been able to do in this city. [...] We know that when carjackings go down, when use of guns goes down, and when homicide or robbery goes down, neighborhoods feel safer and are safer, so this surge has been important to us," commented the mayor, who added that since the start of the federal operation last August 7, auto thefts are down 87% compared to the same period the previous year.
LATEST
