On the ground, journalists and protesters accuse federal agents of «extreme brutality».
A new escalation
Trump, in a Truth Social post, has called for the Chicago mayor and the Illinois governor to be jailed, marking a new escalation in his administration’s attacks and actions against a city under Democratic leadership.
A Truth Social post
As Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker push back against the Trump administration’s crime crackdown and immigration raids in Chicago, the president voiced his frustration in a Truth Social post, calling for both leaders to be jailed.
In jail
«Chicago Mayor should be in jail for failing to protect ICE officers! Governor Pritzker also!» said the president, accusing the Democratic officials of endangering the lives of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers currently carrying out a major operation in Chicago.
National Guard
Tensions are rapidly escalating between Trump, the state of Illinois, and the city of Chicago, as both filed lawsuits on Monday to block the president’s deployment of National Guard members to Chicago.
The Department of Defense
Over the weekend, the Department of Defense federalized up to 300 members of the Illinois National Guard, in what the DoD has dubbed «Operation Midway Blitz», and also directed 400 federalized Texas National Guard troops to be sent to several Democratic-led cities, many of them headed to Chicago.
A war zone
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker condemned the Trump administration’s actions in Chicago, declaring:
«They are the ones that are making it a war zone. They need to get out of Chicago if they're not going to focus on the worst of the worst, which is what the president said they were going to do. They need to get the heck out.»
A migrant holding facility
Protests against the Trump administration’s actions, ongoing since mid-September, are rapidly intensifying in Chicago, with clashes erupting between demonstrators, ICE officials, and journalists, particularly outside a migrant holding facility run by ICE and located in the suburb of Broadview.
Additional support
In late September, the Department of Homeland Security requested additional support to protect ICE facilities in Illinois as protests against the agency escalated.
A federal lawsuit
On October 7, a coalition of journalists, news organizations, unions, and protesters filed a federal lawsuit in Chicago against the Trump administration, accusing federal agents of using «extreme brutality» during recent demonstrations, including tear gas, pepper balls, and projectiles fired even at credentialed reporters clearly displaying press badges; the plaintiffs argue that these actions, carried out without lawful dispersal orders, violate the First Amendment by attempting to intimidate and silence peaceful dissent, and they are asking the court to affirm both protesters’ right to demonstrate peacefully and journalists’ right to observe, record, and report on federal activities.
An extreme escalation
«There has been an extreme escalation in the use of force by federal agents at that facility against people who are exercising their First Amendment rights, and targeted attacks against members of the press and legal observers,» said Molly Armour, a volunteer attorney with the National Lawyers Guild in Chicago, who is involved in the case by representing protesters and monitoring abuses.
His rhetoric
Trump is now accusing the governor and the mayor of endangering the lives of ICE agents, using a social media post to demand that they be jailed, a stark move that fuels fears his rhetoric against political opponents is increasingly translating into action. He has made similar calls in the past, including against former FBI Director James Comey, one of his outspoken critics, who was later indicted on what many have described as bogus charges brought by the administration.