Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (D) said Monday that President Trump sending the National Guard to his city would “only serve to destabilize” it.
“From my first day in office, public safety has been my top priority. In just two years we have made historic progress, driving down homicides by more than 30% and reducing shootings by almost 40% in the last year alone,” Johnson said in a Monday statement.
“Last week, we learned that President Trump cut another $158 million in funding for violence prevention programs in cities like Chicago. These cuts are on top of the Trump administration dismantling the Office of Gun Violence Prevention and terminating more than $800 million in grants for anti-violence programs across the country,” he added.
Johnson added that if Trump “wants to help make Chicago safer, he can start by releasing the funds for anti-violence programs that have been critical to our work to drive down crime and violence.”
“Sending in the national guard would only serve to destabilize our city and undermine our public safety efforts,” he added.
Johnson’s comments come after Trump on Monday singled out Chicago while announcing he was taking control of the District of Columbia’s police and deploying the National Guard. The president threatened also to send the guard to the Windy City and announced he would end no-cash bail despite it being a state law.
Trump portrayed the moves, which will involve around 800 National Guard troops, as a response to high crime rates in the nation’s capital. Police statistics, however, show that crime rates in the District have fallen sharply over the past two years.
“Our capital city has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth, drugged-out maniacs and homeless people, and we’re not going to let it happen anymore. We’re not going to take it,” the president said.
The president is taking over the Metropolitan Police Department by way of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act’s Section 740. Congress passed the act in the 1970s to give D.C. control over its local affairs.
Trump’s action in the nation’s capital follows his deployment of National Guard and Marine Corps troops to Los Angeles a few months ago. The president’s law enforcement moves in both cities have drawn intense backlash from Democrats, as well as residents of the cities.
The president also has a history of clashing with Chicago leaders, blaming them in 2018 for what he called an unbelievable surge in gun violence in the city.
The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment.
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