Trump to Send Agents to Cities in Challenge to Democrats

(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump said he will expand a federal law enforcement operation to Chicago and Albuquerque, New Mexico, setting up a rhetorical showdown with state and local leaders, if not an actual one over combating violent crime.

“Chicago is a disaster,” Trump said Wednesday from the White House. “I think in their own way, they want us to go in. There’ll be a time when they’re going to want us to go in full blast.”

Trump has threatened to send agents to major U.S. cities led by Democrats that are dealing with violent crime and vandalism of federal buildings, in an appeal to his conservative base ahead of the 2020 election. He claimed that a liberal movement to defund traditional policing efforts has led to a spike in violent crime.

The push has set off a nationwide controversy over the use of federal forces in cities, oftentimes over the objection of local leaders. So far, they’ve been happy to have it both ways: accepting more resources, while loudly resisting any attempt to deploy federal agents the way the administration did in Portland, Oregon, where officers from the Department of Homeland Security have violently clashed with protesters.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s reaction to Trump’s announcement captured this tension. She welcomed the additional agents to help combat gun violence in the city if they partner with existing federal efforts and don’t try to “play police in our streets.”

“I’m glad to see that the president got the message. I’m glad to see that he realized what he did in Portland was a grave abuse of his presidential power,” she added. “Now that doesn’t mean he’s not going to try it here in Chicago, and we have to remain diligent.”

Lightfoot said it’s too early to say whether the plan will add value to the city’s efforts to curb violence.

She also noted that Trump has attacked her and the mayors of Atlanta, Washington and Seattle. “The president is trying to divert attention from his failed leadership on Covid-19.”

‘No Choice’

Asked about Lightfoot’s comment, Trump reiterated his defense of his administration’s handling of the outbreak and said the mayor was making a mistake by not asking for more aggressive help.

“At some point, we may have no other choice but to go in,” said the president, who called Lightfoot on Wednesday evening to confirm his plans to send more help to the city. After the brief conversation, the mayor’s office issued a statement saying “all resources will be investigatory in nature.”

A statement from both of Illinois’s U.S. senators underscored how Trump’s clash with Democratic-led cities may be more about campaign messaging than a challenge to local authority.

“After needless threats from the President, we’re relieved the Trump Administration says they plan to work with local officials and authorities in Chicago rather than undermine local law enforcement and endanger our civil rights, as their agents have done in Portland,” said Democrats Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth, a possible vice presidential pick for party nominee Joe Biden.

In fact, the president’s Wednesday announcement was for a different program, led by a different agency, than what the administration is doing in Portland. Still, Trump conflated the overall situation in his remarks.

In Portland, the administration argued the agents were protecting a federal courthouse. But in other cities like Chicago and Albuquerque, Trump wants to use federal forces to stop crime more broadly, citing a spike in violent crime in Chicago. As of July 19, homicides were up 51% compared to last year, according to the police department data.

The Trump administration earlier this month launched “Operation Legend” in Kansas City, Missouri, in which agents from the FBI, U.S. Marshals Service, Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were ordered to help local police fight violent crime. The operation was named after LeGend Taliferro, a 4-year-old boy who was shot and killed when someone fired into his home.

Blue States

Under the expansion, Justice Department agents will be sent to Chicago and Albuquerque, which are run by Democratic mayors and located in blue states.

More than a dozen mayors wrote an open letter saying the administration’s “deployment of federal forces in the streets of our communities has not been requested, nor is it acceptable.” The mayors who signed the letter, including Lightfoot, asked for a congressional investigation into the Trump administration’s use of federal agents.

It’s not immediately clear why federal agents are being deployed to Albuquerque, which, unlike Chicago, has not had a wave of violent crime. Protests in the city have been mostly peaceful. But last month, a man shot a demonstrator at a protest calling for the removal of a statue of a Spanish conquistador.

Sheriff Manuel Gonzales of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, is expected to meet with Trump on Wednesday to discuss the deployment, triggering calls for his resignation from Democratic Senator Martin Heinrich and condemnation from other local leaders.

“Instead of collaborating with the Albuquerque Police Department, the Sheriff is inviting the President’s stormtroopers into Albuquerque,” Heinrich said in a statement.

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