President Donald Trump has authorised the deployment of 300 National Guard troops to Chicago to address what he says is out-of-control crime.
The move came hours after immigration authorities said they faced off with protesters in the Democrat-run city. Officials said an “armed woman” was shot after claiming she and others rammed their cars into law enforcement vehicles.
State and local leaders have for weeks criticised Trump’s deployment plans and called it an abuse of power. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said Trump was “attempting to manufacture a crisis”.
The announcement came as a federal judge in Portland, Oregon temporarily blocked the Trump administration from deploying 200 troops there.
Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement: “Agents were unable to move their vehicles and exited the car. One of the drivers who rammed the law enforcement vehicle was armed with a semi-automatic weapon.”
“Law enforcement was forced to deploy their weapons and fire defensive shots at an armed US citizen,” she added.
Judge Karin Immergut called Trump’s statements about conditions in Portland “untethered to the facts,” and said the move violated the Constitution.
She said the use of the military to quell unrest without the state of Oregon consenting risked the sovereignty of that state and others, adding that it also inflamed tensions in the city and caused increased protests.
Immergut ruled that the administration’s arguments for the deployment “risk blurring the line between civil and military federal power – to the detriment of this nation”.
While it’s unclear whether troops have arrived in Chicago, any such deployment would likely be met with legal challenges.
Credit: bbc.com
