Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson issued a sharp warning over the weekend, stating that if the Trump administration deploys the National Guard to the city as part of a federal crime crackdown, residents could “rise up.”
Trump suggested that Chicago may be the next city to receive enhanced federal law enforcement support, a proposal also criticized by Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, who dismissed it as a “manufactured crisis.”
Johnson emphasized that Chicago does not need a “military-occupied state” and praised the resistance shown by leaders in Los Angeles. “They don’t have police power. There’s nothing they can do,” he said, adding that the city would remain firm, pursue legal action if necessary, and rely on residents to stand alongside city leadership in protecting the community.
The mayor described Chicago as a diverse city rooted in the values of working people and insisted that the city would not “surrender our humanity” to what he called authoritarian measures.
