Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (D) slammed President Trump over possibly sending the national guard to Chicago after his D.C. crime crackdown, calling the president’s plans to target the Windy City “offensive.”
“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,” Johnson wrote in a Friday statement.
Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Friday that he would send the National Guard to other Democrat-run cities, including Chicago.
“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,” Trump said.
Crime rates have been down in Chicago, according to the city’s website.
“Here’s the bottom line – as mayor of this city, and mayors across this country, we know exactly what it takes to drive down violence and crime in our cities because we’re actually doing it,” Johnson told Nexstar affiliate WGN.
“It’s really a shame, quite frankly, and offensive that this president speaks in the name of law and order would do the opposite,” he continued.
The mayor mentioned in his statement that the unlawful deployment of national guard troops to Chicago “would threaten to undermine the historic progress we have made. In the past year alone, we have reduced homicides by more than 30%, robberies by 35%, and shootings by almost 40%.”
Last week, Trump federalized the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department under the Home Rule Act and deployed 800 D.C. National Guardsmen to fight crime. On Tuesday, he doubled the number of National Guard troops who are patrolling the city, bringing the total up to almost 1,750 military personnel.
As of Tuesday, 556 arrests had been made in the nation’s capital since Aug. 7, according to the White House. D.C. officials, especially Mayor Muriel Bowser (D), said the administration’s crackdown on the city is about immigration and exerting power.
Democrats across the country have criticized Trump’s crime policies.
“We know that our communities are safest when we fully invest in housing, community safety, and education,” reads Johnson’s statement. “There are many things the federal government could do to help us reduce crime and violence in Chicago, but sending in the military is not one of them.”
