'Terror And Cruelty Is The Point': Pritzker Lashes Out Over Trump's Plan To Deploy Troops In Chicago

CHICAGO — Governor J.B. Pritzker shared details of federal law enforcement being deployed to Chicago, despite intense opposition, stating that President Donald Trump was trying to create chaos and conflict on the streets of Chicago and urging lawful citizens not to "take the bait.”

In an Oval Office news conference Tuesday after a holiday weekend of internet speculation that the president was ailing and perhaps near death, Trump told reporters that he would be deploying National Guard troops to Chicago and Baltimore, but added, “I didn’t say when.”

Speaking moments after Trump’s announcement, Pritzker said he and other state, county and city officials already believe that ICE agents have been staging at federal facilities, such as the Great Lakes Naval Base.

>>> Trump Says He Will Order Federal Intervention In Chicago And Baltimore

Pritzker said that Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly received a call over the weekend from the U.S. Customs and Border Control chief, Greg Bovino, indicating that ICE would be deploying to Chicago.

“It was the first outreach we’ve received from the Trump Administration on this topic,” the governor said, adding that the wanna-be reality TV star Bovino was “short on details and long on rhetoric.”

In the absence of significant federal coordination, Pritzker, as well as other state, county and city leaders, said they were able to gather information from “unauthorized patriotic officials inside the government” and “well-sourced reporters” about Trump’s plan to deploy military personnel to the streets of Chicago.

“I’m aware that the President of the United States likes to go on television and beg me to call and ask him for troops,” the governor said. “I find this extraordinarily strange, as Chicago does not want troops on our streets. I’ve also experienced asking the president for assistance just to have the rug pulled out from underneath me when execution meets reality. I refuse to play a reality game show with Donald Trump again.”

Instead, Pritzker said he wanted the federal dollars promised to Illinois and Chicago for violence prevention programs that have proven to work.

“That is money that Illinois taxpayers send to the federal government, and it’s an insult to any and every citizen to suggest that any governor should have to beg the president of any political party for resources owed to their people."

Many of Pritzker’s remarks were directed to the news media.

“When did we become a country where it’s okay for the United States president to insist on national TV that a state to beg for anything, especially for something we don’t want,” the governor said. “Have we truly lost all sense of sanity in the nation that we treat this as normal?”

Pritzker said in the coming days to expect to see in Chicago what has been played out in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.

“Donald Trump has been positioning armed federal agents and staging military vehicles on federal property, such as the Great Lake Naval Base,” he said. “It is likely those agents will be with ICE, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, the Department of Homeland Security and other similarly situated federal agencies.”

“Many are being relocated from Los Angeles for deployment in Chicago,” Pritzker said. “We believe this staging has already begun on Monday and continues into Tuesday.”

Pritzker said that unidentifiable agents in unmarked vehicles wearing masks are planning to raid Latino communities under the pretense of targeting violent criminals. He said he and other leaders have reason to believe that Trump advisor Stephen Miller chose the month of September to come to Chicago because of celebrations centered around Mexican Independence Day.

“It breaks my heart to report we’ve been told that ICE will try to disrupt community picnics and peaceful parades,” Pritzker said. “Let’s be clear. The terror and cruelty is the point, not the safety of anyone living here.”

Pritzker warned Chicagoans that as lawful citizens exercise their First Amendment rights that “Trump and his team will be looking for any excuse to put active duty military on our streets supposedly to protect ICE.”

“I want to be very clear on this point and I want to speak directly to the press,” Pritzker added. “We know before anything has happened here that the Trump plan is to use any excuse to deploy armed military personnel to Chicago. If someone flings a sandwich as an ICE agent, Trump will go on TV and declare an emergency in Chicago. I’m imploring everyone if and when that happens: Do not take the bait.”

The governor also said they had reason to believe that National Guard troops are being readied for deployment to Chicago.

“After 30 days or so, they will pack all those resources that they send here to Chicago and send them to the next city in a blue state, ignoring cities in red states with higher violent crime rates than we have. None of this is about fighting crime or making Chicago safer. For Trump, it’s about testing his power and producing a political drama to cover up for his corruption.”

Of the 78 immigrants arrested and detained in Los Angeles, 77 did not have a criminal background, let alone for violent crime, Pritzker said. He also implored Chicagoans to look out for their communities and neighbors.

“Know your rights, film things that you see happening in your neighborhoods and streets and share them with the news media,” Pritzker said. “Authoritarians thrive on your silence. Be loud for America.”

“We are ready to fight troop deployments in court. And we’ll do everything possible to ensure that agents operating inside the confines of this state do so in a legal and ethical manner.”