Texas National Guard arrives in Illinois, as Gov. Pritzker calls for end of Trump administration’s ‘authoritarian march’

Members of the Texas Nationwide Guard have arrived in Illinois, in line with sources aware of their whereabouts and video taken of them at an Military Reserve coaching facility in a Chicago suburb.

The Texas Nationwide Guard boarded a army aircraft on Monday afternoon in Texas, as state and metropolis leaders in Illinois have been holding a information convention asking them to avoid Chicago.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday shared a photograph on social media displaying what he referred to as the state’s “elite” Nationwide Guard boarding a aircraft, however he didn’t say the place they have been headed.

“Illinois is not going to let the Trump administration proceed on their authoritarian march with out resisting,” Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker mentioned. “We’ll use each lever at our disposal to cease this energy seize as a result of army troops shouldn’t be used towards American communities.”

Texas Nationwide Guard members have been video-recorded by ABC Chicago Station WLS on Tuesday on the U.S. Military Reserve Heart in Elwood, Illinois, about 50 miles southwest of Chicago.

Among the many army officers whom WLS recorded video of on the Military Reserve Heart on Tuesday was two-star Maj. Gen. Niave Knell, the deputy commanding basic of U.S. Military North.

Pritzker mentioned at a information convention on Monday that over the weekend, he referred to as on Abbott “to instantly withdraw his assist of this determination” to ship the Texas Nationwide Guard members to Chicago.

Earlier Tuesday, Abbott had replied to Pritzker on social media, saying, “I totally approved the President to name up 400 members of the Texas Nationwide Guard to make sure security for federal officers.”

Throughout a information convention on Tuesday morning, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson mentioned he had not acquired no advance data on the whereabouts of the Texas Nationwide Guard troops.

“We’ve got not heard instantly, in fact, from the president or his administration and my expectation is that, no matter what this administration is doing, I’m going to stay agency and dedicated to defending the rights and the civility of our nation and can begin proper right here in Chicago,” Johnson mentioned.

“We do know that very like what we’ve seen in different elements of the nation, there’s a course of that the Nationwide Guard goes via earlier than they’re truly launched into the streets of Chicago or wherever,” Johnson added.

Johnson mentioned that what he does know is that the deployment of Nationwide Guard troops in Chicago is “unlawful, unconstitutional, it is harmful, it is mistaken.”

The state of Illinois and metropolis of Chicago filed a lawsuit on Monday in search of to dam the federalization and deployment of the Nationwide Guard.

The foundational precept separating the army from home affairs is “in peril” as Trump seeks to deploy the Nationwide Guard to cities throughout the nation, legal professionals for Illinois and Chicago wrote within the lawsuit.

“Let me be clear, Donald Trump is utilizing our service members as political props and as pawns in his unlawful effort to militarize our nation’s cities,” Pritzker mentioned throughout a information convention.

To assist his level, Pritzker performed a video of an ICE raid carried out final week on an house advanced within the South Shore neighborhood of Chicago, which he claimed was filmed by federal authorities with high-definition cameras for social media functions. He mentioned it was the identical video that Secretary of the U.S. Division of Homeland Safety Kristi Noem posted on social media on Saturday.

“They introduced Black Hawk army helicopters and greater than 100 brokers in full tactical gear,” Pritzker mentioned.

He added, “In the dark and seemingly for the cameras, armed federal brokers emerged from the Black Hawk helicopters, rappelling onto the roof of that house constructing.”

Throughout a Senate Judiciary Committee listening to on Tuesday, Lawyer Basic Pam Bondi was requested in regards to the deployment of Nationwide Guard Troops to Chicago and the way they’d assist enhance security within the metropolis.

“I am having an actual wrestle proper now with the Nationwide Guard being deployed and masking the abject failure of leaders within the state and native stage,” Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., informed Bondi, referring to alleged extreme crime in Chicago.

“Are we masking an underlying drawback that may come again the minute that we go away?” Tillis requested Bondi. “That’s what I’m speaking about, not the safety of federal buildings and federal legislation enforcement, however nearly a way that they’ve grow to be an arm of native legislation enforcement. I don’t take into account {that a} finest apply. It doesn’t sound such as you do, both.”

“Seeing what’s taking place in Chicago, they want the Nationwide Guard. Our ICE members want the Nationwide Guard to guard the nationwide buildings,” Bondi responded.

However Chicago metropolis officers have insisted there isn’t any crime emergency within the metropolis to justify the deployment of the Nationwide Guard. Chicago police crime statistics present that homicides within the metropolis are down 28% this yr in comparison with the primary 9 months of 2024, and the variety of taking pictures incidents is down 35%.

Pritzker alleged the Trump administration is following a playbook to “trigger chaos, create worry and confusion, make it seem to be peaceable protesters are a mob by firing gasoline pellets and tear gasoline canisters at them. Why? To create the pretext for invoking the Riot Act in order that he can ship army troops to our metropolis,” Pritzker mentioned.

Talking to reporters within the Oval Workplace on Monday afternoon, Trump mentioned he didn’t but see the necessity to use the Riot Act, however “if I needed to enact it, I would do it, if folks have been being killed and courts have been holding us up, or governors or mayors have been holding us up.”