Trump's administration is pondering over sending federal agents across the entire nation, including Chicago, despite state and local officials criticizing the tactics used by the agent in detaining protesters using unmarked vehicles in Portland and wearing a uniform with no sign of affiliation.
Massive force deployment
A source who wished to remain anonymous stated the proposals include sending out nearly 200 officers to the city of Chicago, some of which would be taken from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), as reported by USA Today.
In a statement, Trump noted that anarchists were assaulting Democrat-led cities as the violent protests continued. The United States president, along with his allies, has frequently criticized the demonstrations.
The city of Portland had become home to nearly every day protests calling out police brutality starting from George Floyd's death on May 25, an African-American man who was killed when a police officer knelt on his neck for nearly ten minutes.
In the weekend, tensions within Portland kept escalating, and Mayor Ted Wheeler called to recall the federal agents, saying their deployment into the city resulted in heightened tensions.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot, in response to being asked about her plans for Chicago, on Monday said she had significant worries given how the government of Portland conducted themselves.
Lightfoot said federal agents who bore no affiliate insignia or who drove around in unmarked vehicles coming and dragging people off the streets and detaining them unlawfully.
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Wheeler and Lightfoot wrote a joint letter of request that asked for the withdrawal of the agents from within their territorial jurisdiction. Several other mayors from major cities have joined the efforts and said that federal officers had no supervision and openly disregarded local regulations about wearing official identifications and using violent methods.
The involved mayors also shared their criticisms of Trump's actions in deploying federal officers to further their political agendas.
Battling violent protests
According to CNN, on Monday, Trump threatened to send out federal agents to enforce the law in several cities across the United States that were being run by Democratic politicians. The move is the most recent in the US president's attempts at branding himself as a personality of law and order.
In a meeting in the Oval Office, Trump said that they would not be allowing all the cities run by Democrats to be the fate of the US.
Reportedly, Trump's administration was discussing plans to send out federal agents to the city of Chicago this week.
Chad Wolf, the acting Homeland Security Secretary, told reporters in an interview that prioritizing politics over the safety of the public would not only have severe consequences in the short term but would also result in extreme ramifications in the long term.
A spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security, in an interview with reporters, said that the agency was not giving out comments over the alleged leaked operational plans when asked about the possibility of federal agents being deployed to the city of Chicago.
