President Donald Trump authorized deployment of troops to Chicago after a federal agent shot an allegedly armed motorist Saturday, while a judge blocked the Republican leader’s attempt to send the military into Portland, another Democratic-run city.
The escalating crisis across the country pits Trump’s increasingly militarized anti-crime and migration crackdown against opposition Democrats who accuse him of an authoritarian power grab.
“President Trump has authorized 300 national guardsmen to protect federal officers and assets” in Chicago, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement, after weeks of the Republican threatening to send troops to the Midwestern city over the wishes of local leaders.
“President Trump will not turn a blind eye to the lawlessness plaguing American cities.”
Portland and Chicago are the latest flashpoints in the Trump administration’s rollout of raids, following the deployment of troops to Los Angeles and Washington.
Trump has repeatedly called Portland “war-ravaged” and riddled with violent crime, but in Saturday’s court order, US District Judge Karin Immergut wrote “the President’s determination was simply untethered to the facts.”বিস্তারিত