CHICAGO — President Donald Trump lionized conservative activist Charlie Kirk at a public memorial service Sunday, claiming Kirk pleaded with him to “save Chicago” in one of their last conversations before Kirk was fatally shot.
As Trump’s 40-minute speech at a packed State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, veered into politics, he recalled Kirk — a native of suburban Arlington Heights — supported his effort to send swarms of federal agents to Chicago.
“One of the last things he said to me is, ‘Please, sir, save Chicago.’ We are going to do that,” Trump said. “We are going to save Chicago from horrible crime.”
Kirk, founder of the influential conservative organization Turning Point USA, was fatally shot Sept. 10 during a speaking appearance at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah.
In his remarks at Kirk’s memorial, Trump hinted again at deploying the National Guard to Chicago, a legally dubious action the president has waffled on for weeks.
“We’re going to have Charlie very much in mind when we go into Chicago, and we’ll get that one straightened out,” Trump said.
Kirk’s memorial service in front of tens of thousands of mourners drew top-ranking Trump officials who promised to follow through on Kirk’s vision for America, which included hardline beliefs that cities like Chicago were running rampant with crime.
“I want to be able to walk Magnificent Mile in Chicago without having to look over my shoulder,” Kirk said on his eponymous podcast last month. “We got a big military. We should be willing to use it.”
The Associated Press reported Friday that federal immigration agents had arrested almost 550 people as part of a ramped-up Chicago-area operation dubbed Operation Midway Blitz.
Ten protesters were released from federal custody after clashing with agents Friday outside of an ICE processing facility in suburban Broadview, part of a chaotic scene where agents used tear gas and pepper balls on the crowd as some attempted to block entrances.
Gov. JB Pritzker seemed to push back on the arrests in a social post Saturday.
“Despite refusing to coordinate with the state or city, we’re monitoring the ongoing federal deployments that are instilling fear in our communities,” Pritzker said. “Americans have a right to peaceful assembly and to make their voices heard. Even if the Trump admin won’t follow the law, we will.”
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