Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) said Trump administration officials “want to create the warzone” in Chicago to send in more National Guard troops.
In an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Pritzker condemned the nighttime raid in Chicago, saying it’s “emblematic” of what the Trump administration is trying to do.
“This raid at this building is emblematic of what ICE and CBP and the president the United States, [Homeland Security Secretary] Kristi Noem and [Border Patrol Commander-at-Large] Greg Bovino, are trying to do,” he said.
“They want mayhem on the ground. They want to create the war zone so that they can send in even more troops,” he continued.
Pritzker said the National Guard troops weren’t necessary until federal troops first arrived in Chicago.
“Now they’re claiming they need 300 of the Illinois National Guard. Well, we didn’t need them before they showed up, and what they ought to do is allow us to work with FBI, ATF, DEA, who are civilian law enforcement and understand how to target and take out the bad guys,” he continued.
Trump earlier this week told a gathering of military leaders they should use American cities as “training grounds” and described a federal crackdown on crime in major cities as necessary due to “a war from within.”
“They’re very unsafe places, and we’re going to straighten them out one by one,” Trump said. “And this is going to be a major part for some of the people in this room. That’s a war, too. It’s a war from within.”
“I told [Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth], we should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military — National Guard, but our military, because we’re going into Chicago very soon,” Trump added. “That’s a big city with an incompetent governor.”
