Chicago police chief Larry Snelling warned city protesters that the rules for federal force involvement differ from city officers.
Trump’s Chicago military threat met a fierce pushback
Gov. JB Pritzker pushes back Trump’s threat to deploy military forces to Chicago, calling it dangerous and unnecessary.
City of Chicago leaders and Illinois officials have warned residents of the country’s third largest city to prevent protests from getting out of hand once the Trump administration follows its promise to deploy the National Guard.
“When it comes to federal agents or national guards, these people work for the federal government and their involvement rules are different,” the Chicago Police Superintendent warned at an August 27 news briefing.
The warning from the city’s top police officers is because Chicagoans hope that the White House will bring immigration crackdown on the city after Labor Day.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker warned Chicagoans to expect military checkpoints with “unclear mask officers while taking their children to school.” However, he asked protesters to refrain from giving reasons to engage with the federal forces.
“I know you, Chicago,” Pretzker said. “If you protest, do it peacefully. Continue Chicago’s long tradition of non-violent resistance.”
The protests that saw the cars burning up at federal immigration enforcement prompted Trump to deploy the National Guard and active-duty Marines to Los Angeles. The White House deployed its troops in Washington, DC, after declaring a state of criminal emergency despite the decline in the number of violent crimes.
Police Department data shows that violent crime rates are also declining in Chicago.
What Chicagoans do to prepare
Stacey Davis Gates, president of the city’s powerful teachers union, told USA Today, Stacey Davis Gates, who told USA Today, told USA Today, that the annual Labor Day march quickly turned into an anti-Trump protest.
“It feels chaotic, aggressive, intimidating, unnecessary, racist,” said Davis Gates, a black man. “It’s wrong to see occupation forces wrong in American cities sent by the US president. It’s bad for taxpayers, shifting from blackmailing valuable resources from threats.”
If Trump wants to help Chicago, Davis Gates said millions of dollars will be spent deploying the military, building immigration and customs, with the world’s biggest law enforcement agencies instead supporting Chicagoans who need food and health care and help educate Chicagoans.
Davis Gates said union members who worked at Chicago Public Schools in the city’s Latino district reported that they would reduce attendance amid the Trump administration’s early immigration enforcement efforts.
She said she feared that this time around the fear felt by Latinx students, also by black students in the system that could be subject to checkpoints and scrutiny from the Federal Army.
“We are all very concerned because the pretexts are undocumented people and, as an excuse, they can descend into black neighborhoods in all sorts of unconstitutional ways.
Chicago police won’t help the federal government, won’t stop them
In a briefing with reporters, Coach Snelling revealed that he does not expect to deploy officers alongside the Federal Forces. However, he also warned that he was not in a position to stop them either.
“Our executives are not in the field that supports immigration enforcement in any way,” Snell said. “But we don’t want to engage in ways that sabotage federal agents. We don’t interfere with the work they are doing.”
Snell, who oversaw the city’s handling of protests during the Democratic National Convention and often on the ground while thousands of people marched, said he hoped it would remain as peaceful as it did last summer.
He also emphasized that Chicago police will not begin asking people in the city about their immigrant status.
“We don’t care,” he said. “What we care about is making sure people are safe to get the help they need. We’re going to continue to make sure they stand up for the people in town.”
“Gathering… To push back”: immigration advocates
The Illinois Immigrants and Refugee Rights Coalition has taken steps to prepare for Trump’s immigration crackdown by staffing hotlines that allow people to prepare quick response teams for immediate assistance.
Spokesman Brandon Lee said he hopes that efforts to teach Chicagoans what their rights are in the face of arrests will keep people safe.
Lee said the rapid response team would be called to the reporting site to share information about rights people have, rather than thwarting agents.
Lee said he expects more protests to be planned after the troops are deployed. However, he said his supporters would ensure that the demonstrations remain peaceful.
“We understand that Trump is trying to raise the temperature, and we’re not going to feed it in organizing,” Lee said. “If we are gathering peacefully, we will do our best we can to keep our families and communities safe.”
