Trump threatens ‘war’ on Chicago as thousands protest federal crackdown

United States President Donald Trump has threatened to unleash his newly rebranded “Department of War” connected Chicago, arsenic thousands of protesters marched successful the metropolis arsenic good arsenic successful Washington, DC, to denounce the deployment of National Guard troops and migration agents to Democratic-led cities.

Trump’s threat, posted connected his Truth Social level connected Saturday, featured a parody representation from the movie Apocalypse Now, showing a shot of flames arsenic helicopters zoom implicit the skyline of Chicago, the US’s third-largest city.

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“‘I emotion the odor of deportations successful the morning,'” Trump wrote connected his societal media site. “Chicago astir to find retired wherefore it’s called the Department of WAR.”

The president offered nary details beyond the statement “Chipocalypse Now,” a play connected the rubric of Francis Ford Coppola’s dystopian 1979 movie acceptable successful the Vietnam war, successful which a quality says, “I emotion the odor of napalm successful the morning”.

The station from Trump follows his repeated threats to adhd Chicago to the database of different Democratic-led cities helium has targeted for expanded national enforcement. His medication is acceptable to measurement up migration enforcement successful Chicago, arsenic it did successful Los Angeles, and deploy National Guard troops.

Democratic Governor of Illinois JB Pritzker, wherever Chicago is located, voiced outrage astatine Trump’s station and said the authorities “won’t beryllium intimidated by a wannabe dictator”.

“The President of the United States is threatening to spell to warfare with an American city. This is not a joke. This is not normal,” helium wrote successful a station connected X.

Thousands of demonstrators enactment successful the ‘We Are All DC’ nationalist march, successful solidarity with DC communities, and telephone for an extremity to Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops successful the US superior [Amid Farahi/AFP]

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson besides denounced Trump’s menace arsenic “beneath the grant of our nation”.

“The world is that helium wants to inhabit our metropolis and interruption our Constitution. We indispensable support our ideology from this authoritarianism by protecting each different and protecting Chicago from Donald Trump,” Johnson wrote connected X.

Protests successful Chicago, DC

In summation to sending troops to Los Angeles successful June, Trump has deployed them since past period successful Washington, DC, arsenic portion of his unprecedented instrumentality enforcement takeover of the country’s capital. He has besides suggested that Baltimore and New Orleans could get the aforesaid attraction and, connected Friday, adjacent mentioned national authorities perchance heading for Portland, Oregon, to “wipe ’em out”, meaning the protesters.

The US president connected Friday besides signed an bid changing the sanction of the Department of Defense to the Department of War, saying it sends “a connection of victory” to the world.

The unit and national cause deployments person prompted ineligible challenges and protests, with critics calling them an authoritarian amusement of force.

On Saturday, much than a 1000 protesters marched done the streets of downtown Chicago, with signs bearing slogans similar “I.C.E. retired of Illinois, I.C.E. retired of everywhere”, referring to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement bureau (ICE).

Speakers offered the assemblage instructions connected what to bash if encountering ICE agents. They besides drew comparisons betwixt the projected ICE crackdown connected Chicago and Israel’s beingness successful Gaza.

“We are inspired by the steadfastness of Palestinians successful Gaza, and it is wherefore we garbage to cower to Trump and his threats,” Nazek Sankari, co-chair of the US Palestinian Community Network, said to the assemblage arsenic galore waved Palestinian flags and donned keffiyehs.

Viviana Barajas, person with the assemblage organisation Palenque LSNA, promised that Chicagoans would “stand up” arsenic Los Angeles had if Trump deployed the National Guard successful their city.

“If helium thinks these frivolous theatrics to undermine our sovereignty volition unopen retired the passionateness we person for protecting our people, this is Chicago, and helium is sorely mistaken,” Barajas said. “We person been studying LA and DC, and they person stood up for their cities.”

In the US capital, protesters astatine the “We Are All DC” march, who besides included supporters of Palestinian statehood, marched down a agleam reddish banner reading, “END THE D.C. OCCUPATION”, successful English and Spanish.

They chanted slogans denouncing Trump and carried posters, immoderate of which read, “Trump indispensable spell now,” “Free DC”, and “Resist Tyranny”.

Al Jazeera’s Heidi Zhou-Castro, reporting from Washington, DC, said the protesters were “furious” of Trump’s order, and were calling him “a fascist and an authoritarian”.

She noted that Trump had deployed the 2,000 troops past period to combat what helium called a surge successful convulsive crime, but that specified offences successful the US superior past twelvemonth had deed “a 30-year low”.

Mark Fitzpatrick, a erstwhile US diplomat who has been a DC nonmigratory for astir a decade, told The Associated Press quality bureau connected Saturday that helium was disquieted astir the “authoritarian nature” successful which the medication is treating DC.

“Federal agents, nationalist guards patrolling our streets, that’s truly an affront to the ideology of our city,” helium said, adding that it is worse for DC residents owed to their deficiency of national representation. “We don’t person our ain senators oregon members of the House of Representatives, truthful we’re astatine the mercy of a dictator similar this, a wanna-be dictator.”

Among the protesters connected Saturday was Jun Lee, a printmaker artist, who showed up with a “Free DC” motion that she made connected a woodcut block.

She said she came to the protestation due to the fact that she was “saddened and heartbroken” astir the interaction of the national involution connected her city.

“This is my home, and I never, ever thought each the worldly that I watched successful a past documentary that I’m really surviving successful person, and this is wherefore this is important for everyone. This is our home; we request to fight, we request to resist,” she said.

Trump has suggested that helium has astir limitless powers erstwhile it comes to deploying the National Guard. At times helium has adjacent touched connected questions astir his being a dictator.

“Most radical are saying, ‘If you telephone him a dictator, if helium stops crime, helium tin beryllium immoderate helium wants’. I americium not a dictator, by the way,” Trump said past month.

He added, “Not that I don’t person – I would – the close to bash thing I privation to do.”

“I’m the president of the United States,” Trump said. “If I deliberation our state is successful information – and it is successful information successful these cities – I tin bash it.”