Schakowsky Statement Rejecting Trump’s Military Deployment Plans

WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), released the following statement to condemn the Trump administration's plan to deploy the National Guard or active-duty military in Chicago despite objections from local leadership.

"Donald Trump even considering deploying the National Guard to Chicago is outrageous and nothing but a power grab by an aspiring dictator.

"This is not the first time he has used the National Guard as a political weapon. We all remember when Trump ordered a militarized crackdown on our nation's capital in 2020 and then failed to deploy the National Guard on January 6, 2021, Washington, D.C.'s most lawless and violent day.

"Now, five years later, we are seeing history repeat itself, this time, under the guise of a public safety emergency. Crime rates in Chicago have gone down. Our communities need investment, not intimidation. Sending troops into our neighborhoods will not help public safety, it will only escalate tensions.

"No American city should be ruled through force, surveillance, and intimidation. We will not stand by as our city is used as a backdrop for political theater. Chicagoans do not want, or need, our city turned into a military state."

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