Chicago and New York could be the next cities to see federal troops in the streets, President Donald Trump said Friday.
At a press conference in the Oval Office, Trump boasted about the National Guard presence he sent into Washington, D.C., last week, adding: “I think Chicago will be our next, and then we’ll help with New York.”
Trump said his administration is willing to bring in the “regular military” as well, and asserted that Chicago residents are “screaming for us to come” and “wearing red hats, just like this one.”
The president continued: “African American ladies, beautiful ladies, are saying, ‘Please, President Trump, come to Chicago — please.’ I did great with the Black vote as you know, and they want something to happen.”
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson immediately issued a public statement in response to Trump’s threat, which read in part:
Certainly, we have grave concerns about the impact of any unlawful deployment of National Guard troops to the City of Chicago. The problem with the President’s approach is that it is uncoordinated, uncalled for, and unsound. Unlawfully deploying the National Guard to Chicago has the potential to inflame tensions between residents and law enforcement when we know that trust between police and residents is foundational to building safer communities.
On Aug. 11, Trump declared a public safety emergency in Washington and federalized its police force, deploying hundreds of National Guard troops to crack down on what he called “out-of-control crime,” even as city leaders say violent crime in D.C. is at a 30-year low.
“We are not experiencing a crime spike,” Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser told MSNBC.
While Washington falls under federal authority as a city without statehood, National Guard units outside the nation’s capital fall under the authority of state governments.
California has sued the Trump administration for attempting to use the California National Guard to assist with immigration raids in Los Angeles without Gov. Gavin Newsom’s consent.
Newsom recently said he expects Trump to try to do the same elsewhere.
“This is a preview of things to come — if you think this is about California, you are fooling yourself,” he said. “These are operations you are going to see all across the United States of America. They’ve tested the boundaries of the law. They’ve tested the boundaries of public perception and what the public will accept.”
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
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