Trump Demands Imprisonment of Windy City Mayor and State Executive as National Guard Arrive in City

Former President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday demanded the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of not safeguarding ICE agents.

"The city's leader belongs behind bars for endangering Immigration agents!" Trump wrote on social media Wednesday morning. "The Illinois governor too!"

The two leaders are members of the Democratic party.

Trump's statements coincide with the deployment of state military troops in the Chicago region under orders from the current government, despite vehement protests from Illinois authorities including the governor and mayor.

"This marks yet another attempt where Trump attempted to have an African American leader unjustly detained," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I am staying put."

Pritzker also replied via online channels, stating: "I refuse to back down. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives checking his power. What remains on the path to complete autocracy?"

As of midweek, National Guard units from the Lone Star State had arrived at the Elwood training facility, a military installation roughly 50 miles from Chicago, as the administration pushes forward with its aggressive crime strategy and immigration enforcement operations.

Trump has labeled Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", even though official statistics indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, including murders.

On Wednesday, 200 state guard members were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard forces preparing to mobilize, according to sources. Authorities reportedly stated the troops would not perform police functions but would secure ICE officers and their facilities.

Soldiers wearing uniforms with state guard patches were observed at the US army reserve center in Elwood. Vehicles labeled "Disaster Relief" delivered portable toilets and other supplies. Trailers were set up in rows. Additional fencing was installed around the compound.

The Federal Aviation Administration imposed no-fly zones over the army reserve center for security reasons until early December.

Federal authorities has intensified immigration enforcement in the city in the past month, triggering protests, especially near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.

On Monday, state and city initiated legal action targeting the federal government, seeking to block the military dispatch, urging a federal judge to stop what they describe as "the president's proclaimed 'Battle'" on the city and state, calling it "illegal and risky".

Legal proceedings on their case is scheduled for the next day.

The mayor also signed an executive order on that day prohibiting federal immigration agents and related personnel from using city-owned property as operation bases for enforcement actions.

Pritzker has accused Trump of using troops as "political props" and "chess pieces".

At a news conference on Tuesday, he said that Trump is trying to "justify and make acceptable the deployment of military personnel under his personal authority."

The nearly 150-year-old federal law limits the military's role in civilian law enforcement. Yet, the president has said he would be prepared to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows a president to dispatch regular army in regions that are unable to suppress an insurrection or are defying federal law.

After beginning his new administration, Trump has sent or discussed deploying military units to at least 10 cities, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, claiming that the military presence is essential to fight violence and protect ICE officers.

Data indicates that most violent crime nationwide has decreased in the past few years. In the city, for instance, homicides were down 31% to under three hundred through August, according to law enforcement reports.

New survey data published on that day found that most Americans oppose the sending of military forces without an foreign danger.