Trump Authorizes 300 Guard Troops for Deployment in Chicago Over Governor’s Objections

President Donald Trump authorized hundreds of National Guard troops for deployment to Chicago, the White House announced Saturday.

The deployment came over the objections of Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D).

The announcement marked the fifth time Trump federalized and deployed state Guard troops against Democratic-led cities. And it came just hours after a federal judge in Oregon blocked Trump’s call-up of the National Guard for deployment in Portland.

The judge, who was appointed by Trump in his first term, found that the president’s actions were based on false claims and undermined Oregon’s sovereignty.

The announced deployment to Chicago was the latest escalation in Trump’s effort to use the U.S. military as a domestic police force. Legal experts and federal judges have warned that through the effort, the president appears to seek the creation of a national militarized policing force that he directly controls.

“Amidst ongoing violent riots and lawlessness, that local leaders like Pritzker have refused to step in to quell, President Trump has authorized 300 national guardsmen to protect federal officers and assets,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson claimed in a statement Saturday.

“President Trump will not turn a blind eye to the lawlessness plaguing American cities,” Jackson added.

The White House statement did not include what Guard units Trump federalized or what statute he used in doing so.

Earlier Saturday, Pritzker said on social media that the White House gave him an ultimatum: that he call up Illinois guard troops or it would.

“It is absolutely outrageous and un-American to demand a Governor send military troops within our own borders and against our will,” Pritzker said. “This demand follows unprecedented escalations of aggression against Illinois citizens and residents.”

Trump’s Guard deployment in Chicago has been months in the making. Over the past several weeks, the president repeatedly threatened to do so. 

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) launched an aggressive immigration enforcement operation in the city that Pritzker and other local leaders said was meant to foment unrest and create a pretext for a military deployment.

As part of the operation, called Operation Midway Blitz, federal agents supported by helicopters and armored vehicles raided a multi-story apartment building in the city last week. Federal officers pulled men, women and children from their apartments and detained them for hours overnight. U.S. citizens were among those detained.

DHS’s escalatory tactics have prompted protests, particularly outside of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, Illinois, a suburb around 12 miles west of Chicago. Protesters outside of the ICE facility have been tear-gassed and shot with pepper pellets.

Residents in and around Chicago have documented instances of federal agents grabbing people by the throat, releasing tear gas on busy residential streets and arresting local elected officials.

DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin claimed Saturday federal agents shot a woman in the city after she rammed and boxed in a law enforcement vehicle. The details of the encounter could not be independently verified.