(AFP) – US President Donald Trump vowed Tuesday to quickly and dramatically reduce crime in Chicago, hinting at sending federal troops into what he branded the “most dangerous city in the world.”
“I will solve the crime problem fast, just like I did in DC,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform, referring to his deployment of National Guard reservists to the US capital beginning last month. “Chicago is the worst and most dangerous city in the World, by far,” he said, adding that JB Pritzker, the Democratic governor of the state of Illinois where Chicago is located, “needs help badly, he just doesn’t know it yet.” Trump cited what he described as the latest crime statistics from America’s third-largest city: Some 54 people shot in Chicago over the holiday weekend, including eight deaths, with similar figures for the previous two weekends.
“Chicago will be safe again, and soon,” he said. Trump followed up with a provocative, all-caps post: “CHICAGO IS THE MURDER CAPITAL OF THE WORLD!” The abrasive comments come as the Republican leader repeatedly threatens to send thousands of US military personnel into Democratic strongholds like Chicago and Baltimore, cities he has slammed as high-crime zones flooded with undocumented immigrants.
Pritzker has clashed with Trump in recent days, accusing the president of launching “an invasion” with the deployments as he seeks to boost his anti-crime, anti-immigration agenda. Thousands of National Guard troops and US Marines were deployed to Los Angeles beginning in June, intended to assist police as they cracked down on protests and unrest over Trump’s sweeps for undocumented migrants.
Trump also ordered the deployment of the National Guard into Washington in August, and has claimed the move improved city safety. He has said such a deployment could dramatically reduce crime in Chicago, home to some 2.7 million people and one of the country’s most diverse cities.
– President as police chief? –
The unprecedented steps are being challenged in federal court. On Tuesday a federal judge declared that Trump effectively violated the law when he used troops in Los Angeles, and barred the Pentagon from ordering National Guard reservists or Marines to perform police functions including arrests, security patrols, or searches and seizures. Judge Charles Breyer of the District Court in San Francisco warned in his ruling that Trump appears intent on “creating a national police force with the President as its chief.” Breyer’s injunction, however, would only come into force on September 12, potentially leaving an opening for the conservative-majority US Supreme Court to rule on the case.
As Chicago residents braced for a possible intervention by Trump — reportedly as early as this week — its Democratic mayor delivered a spirited defense of the Windy City. “No federal troops in the city of Chicago! No militarized force in the city of Chicago!” Mayor Brandon Johnson said Monday at a rousing Labor Day rally. “We’re going to take this fight across America, but we’ve got to defend the home front first,” he added. Protesters also marched through parts of Chicago on Monday in a “Workers over Billionaires” rally that also saw people vocalize their opposition to Trump sending troops into the city.
– Michael Mathes
© 2024 AFP
