President Donald Trump has talked about potentially deploying the National Guard to Chicago for days, arguing such a move is necessary to crack down on crime.
However, Chicago and Illinois leaders have denounced the proposed action, with Gov. J.B. Pritzker delivering a strongly worded message to the president, backed by Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, Illinois’ U.S. senators and numerous other Democratic lawmakers.
One person who knows what protecting the city looks like, former Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson, said he doesn’t think Trump is sincere about sending in the National Guard.
Former Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson (File photo)
“They don’t have arrest powers, they don’t conduct investigations,” he said. “At most, they’re scarecrows. Putting bodies out where they might think. But if they don’t coordinate with police, how will they know where they’re needed? I think it’s smoke and mirrors.”
Eddie Johnson pointed out that Chicago isn’t among the cities with the highest violent crime rates, and crime has dropped about 30%, according to city data.
“If you look per capita, we’re nowhere close to the top 50-75,” he said.
Eddie Johnson said, during his tenure from 2016 to 2019, he worked in lockstep to reduce crime with then-Mayor Rahm Emmanuel, who appeared on CNN Tuesday.
“We’re trying to recruit officers, rather than the National Guard that’s in and out within a week, help us fund the training efforts so we have a permanent police force that helps us build on what we have,” Emanuel said.
Pritzker and others have said there hasn’t been communication between the federal government and city officials, including Chicago police.
“In my opinion this is a PR stunt, optics, and a way to increase manpower to support immigration policies he’s put into place,” Eddie Johnson said.
Several others agree, including survivors and anti-gun violence advocates who rallied at Federal Plaza earlier on Tuesday.
“Our communities are being threatened by policies rooted in fear,” Yolanda Androzzo with One Aim Illinois said. “The Trump Administration to send the National Guard to Chicago is not about safety, it’s about control through intimidation and fear.”
A peace advocate from Chicago’s Roseland neighborhood said troops will only cause more problems and more trauma for Black and Brown men.
“Troops don’t understand what’s going on here in Chicago, it takes us survivors to forgive each other,” the advocate said. “We’ve lost so many we lost count…”
Pritzker reiterated his stance during an appearance downstate on Tuesday, saying, no one wants troops to be deployed to Chicago. However, Corey Brooks, a Chicago pastor and anti-violence activist, said he disagrees.
“I would like them to walk wherever they want to walk. Wherever there’s crime, wherever there are victims of violence, wherever there are robberies being perpetrated, we need them in place,” he said. “That is a temporary solution but It will help for them to calm things down.”