CHICAGO – Chicago businessman and former mayoral candidate Dr. Willie Wilson is urging President Donald Trump to send the National Guard into Chicago, a move that pits him against city and state leaders who strongly oppose the idea.
What we know:
Wilson plans to hold a press conference Wednesday afternoon in downtown Chicago to call for Guard troops, saying communities on the city’s South and West sides are “under siege” from shootings, assaults, and robberies.
“We must do something different to save lives,” Wilson said in a statement. “I disagree with President Trump on a number of issues, but on bringing the National Guard in to save lives we agree.”
Dr. Willie Wilson and President Donald Trump
Wilson pointed to last weekend’s reported toll of 27 people shot, six fatally, and accused Democratic leaders of putting politics over safety.
The other side:
Gov. JB Pritzker, Mayor Brandon Johnson, and other Illinois Democrats are pushing back against Trump’s threats, promising to fight the move in court.
“This is not about fighting crime,” Pritzker said. “This is about Donald Trump searching for any justification to deploy the military in a blue city, in a blue state, to try and intimidate his political rivals.”
Pritzker says Illinois will take Trump to court if troops are deployed to Chicago
President Donald Trump on Monday lobbed personal insults toward Gov. JB Pritzker amid uproar over a report of his administration planning to deploy National Guard members to Chicago to combat crime. The governor responded later on Monday and said the state would sue the Trump administration if troops are sent to the city.
Johnson pointed to a 32% reduction in homicides this year, including the lowest April homicide numbers since 1962, and said Chicago is trending toward its lowest murder total since 2014.
“The City of Chicago is not calling for the occupation of our city,” Johnson said. “It’s illegal and it’s unconstitutional… Here’s a better question: what should President Trump and the federal government do to ensure the success we’re having continues? That’s what we’re asking the federal government, to actually invest in our cities.”
What they’re saying:
Even some Trump supporters and law enforcement leaders are skeptical of the Guard plan.
Ald. Nick Sposato (38th), Trump’s strongest supporter on the City Council, said deploying troops would be “a recipe for disaster.”
“They don’t have policing powers. They don’t really know what to do. More importantly, you’re putting 18, 19-year-old kids on streets they’re unfamiliar with, with M16s,” Sposato said.
Former CPD Superintendent Gary McCarthy, now leading the Willowbrook Police Department, said Guard members are not trained to replace police.
“They’re not going to respond to calls for service… They’re going to be doing car stops. They’re gonna be doing street stops. They might not even be armed, and as such, they can be targets,” McCarthy said.
Both McCarthy and Sposato argued leaders should negotiate with Trump rather than escalate a political standoff.
What’s next:
Federal law requires a governor to request the Guard, though the president can act in extreme situations such as insurrections. Trump has threatened to deploy troops regardless, while Pritzker and Johnson say they’ll challenge him in court.
Wilson, meanwhile, says political battles shouldn’t stand in the way of protecting vulnerable communities.
“Our Democrat leaders have been in charge for decades and Black people on the West and South sides have been the overwhelming number of people shot and killed,” he said. “Politicians have allowed their personal feelings toward President Trump to cloud their judgment.”
The Source: The information in this article was obtained from Dr. Willie Wilson and previous FOX 32 reporting.
ChicagoCrime and Public SafetyDonald J. TrumpJ.B. PritzkerBrandon JohnsonNews