Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson sharply criticized President Donald Trump over the weekend, warning that if the administration deploys the National Guard to the city as part of a crime crackdown, the people of the city will “rise up.”
Trump indicated over the weekend that Chicago could be the next city targeted for enhanced federal law enforcement measures, a proposal that also drew pushback from Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, who dismissed it as a “manufactured crisis.”
“The city of Chicago does not need a military-occupied state. That’s not who we are,” Johnson said in response to a question regarding his feelings about National Guard troops and federal agents being sent to the city.
“And I commend the work of Mayor Bass, my colleague and, you know, all the folks in Los Angeles who stood up and fought, you know, against this, you know, authoritarianism. Here’s the bottom line,” Johnson went on. “They don’t have police power. There’s nothing they can do.”
“And so, you know, look, we’re going to remain firm. We’ll take legal action, but the people of this city are accustomed to rising up against tyranny, and if that’s necessary, I believe that the people of Chicago will stand firm alongside of me as I work every single day to protect the people of this city,” Johnson told left-wing MSNBC.
“You know, look, the city of Chicago, one of the most diverse economies in the world, right, again, you know, a city that has been, you know, founded and established on the values of working people. We’re not going to surrender our humanity to this tyrant,” Johnson complained.
The mayor, along with Pritzker — both Democrats — have been denying that Chicago has a crime problem. But a press release issued by the White House late Monday included crime stats for the past several years as well as quotes from residents who refute the claims of elected officials.
The press release noted:
- For 13 consecutive years, Chicago has had the most murders of any U.S. city.
- For seven consecutive years, Chicago has had the highest murder rate among U.S. cities with more than one million people.
- In 2024, Chicago’s murder rate per capita was three times higher than Los Angeles and nearly five times higher than New York City. That’s more than double the murder rate in Islamabad and nearly 15 times more than Delhi.
- Out of Chicago’s 147,899 reported crimes since January 1, arrests have been made in just 16.2% of them.
- More illegal guns are recovered in Chicago than in New York City and Los Angeles combined.
- The number of reported motor vehicle thefts last year was more than double the number in 2021.
- Chicago has also come under scrutiny over discrepancies in its homicide data reporting.
“You have seniors that have been shot. Where’s the outcry? We need to have a police car out here and detail because we don’t know if this will happen again,” one woman said following a shooting near a senior living facility injured five people.
“You hardly see a police car in the neighborhood. It just seems like crime is really out of control right now… Mayor Johnson is more worried about his school board and his pension stuff that he’s working on right now. He should be worried more about the neighborhoods in Chicago,” a pub owner and robbery victim added.
“We certainly have a crime problem in Chicago,” city Alderman Brian Hopkins told a local NBC affiliate.
“[Burglaries, robberies] were not happening a few years ago. It was very peaceful. Now it seems more dangerous to walk around the neighborhood,” added a local small business owner following four armed robberies in his neighborhood within an hour.
