President Donald Trump has authorized the deployment of 300 members of the Illinois National Guard to protect federal assets amid “violent riots and lawlessness,” according to a White House spokesperson.
Spokeswoman Abigail Jackson confirmed the deployment in a statement to The Epoch Times.
“Amid ongoing violent riots and lawlessness, that local leaders like [Illinois Gov. JB] Pritzker have refused to step in to quell, President [Donald] Trump has authorized 300 national guardsmen to protect federal officers and assets,” she said. “President Trump will not turn a blind eye to the lawlessness plaguing American cities.”
“It is absolutely outrageous and un-American to demand a governor send military troops within our own borders and against our will,” Pritzker said. “They will pull hardworking Americans out of their regular jobs and away from their families all to participate in a manufactured performance—not a serious effort to protect public safety. For Donald Trump, this has never been about safety. This is about control.”
The statement followed violent confrontations in Broadview, near Chicago, where crowds of protesters have demonstrated against federal immigration enforcement operations for weeks.
“If you see a law enforcement officer today, thank them,” she said in a statement.
Pritzker has denounced the operation as unconstitutional, calling it “a pretext to send armed military troops into our communities.”
“These riots outside the ICE Broadview Processing Center and attacks on ICE officers come after Democrat politicians, including Governor Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson, have villainized and demonized ICE law enforcement,” McLaughlin said.
In his Oct. 4 statement, Pritzker said that “there is no need for military troops on the ground in the State of Illinois” and that local law enforcement have been working “to ensure public safety around the Broadview ICE facility, and to protect people’s ability to peacefully exercise their constitutional rights.”
“I will not call up our National Guard to further Trump’s acts of aggression against our people,” he said.
The Epoch Times has reached out to the White House for comment on Pritzker’s announcement about the imminent National Guard deployment.
