WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday said the Illinois governor and Chicago mayor, both Democrats, should be jailed as they oppose his deployment of National Guard troops for his immigration and crime crackdown in the nation’s third-largest city. The officials said they would not be deterred.
The Republican president made the comment in a social media post, the latest example of his brazen calls for his opponents to be prosecuted or locked up — a break from longtime norms as the Justice Department traditionally has strived to maintain its independence from the White House.
Trump wrote on Truth Social that Mayor Brandon Johnson and Gov. JB Pritkzer “should be in jail for failing to protect Ice Officers!” It was a reference to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
It was not immediately clear what Trump was objecting to. The White House did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
Johnson, in a post on X, said, “This is not the first time Trump has tried to have a Black man unjustly arrested. I’m not going anywhere.” Pritzker, also on X, said” I will not back down. Trump is now calling for the arrest of elected representatives checking his power. What else is left on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?”
National Guard troops from Texas are positioned outside Chicago despite a lawsuit by the state and city to block the deployment.
The troops’ mission is not clear but the Trump administration has undertaken an aggressive immigration enforcement operation in Chicago.
Trump has called Chicago a “hell hole” of crime, even though police statistics show significant drops in most crimes, including homicides. Protesters have skirmished with agents outside a detention center in the in the village of Broadview, outside Chicago.
A woman in Chicago was shot by a Border Patrol agent over the weekend after she and a man were accused of using their vehicles to strike and then box in the agent’s vehicle. The agent then exited his car and fired five shots at Marimar Martinez, 30.
Martinez and Anthony Ruiz, 21, are charged with forcibly assaulting a federal officer and were ordered to be released Monday pending trial. Martinez’s lawyer, Christopher Parente, claimed body camera footage contradicts the federal government’s narrative of her actions.
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Associated Press writer Christine Fernando in Chicago contributed to this report.
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