Chicago Mayor Lightfoot: ‘We Will Not Allow Federal Troops in Our City’

Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she would not allow President Donald Trump to send federal police officers to quell protests in the city of Chicago.

Lightfoot said, “This is not about working with the Trump administration. For decades now in major cities across the country, FBI, DEA, ATF, those agents have been in our districts and work in concert with local law enforcement to help support a number of efforts, not the least of which is violence in our cities. So the opportunity presented itself under the management of the U.S. attorney here. I stress that because that’s unlike what we saw in Portland, where the Trump administration parachuted in these additional federal agents without consulting anybody locally and ignoring the local U.S. attorney.”

“Very different circumstance here in Chicago,” she continued. “I have drawn a very hard line. We’ll not allow federal troops in our city. We will not tolerate unnamed agents taking people off the street, violating their rights and holding them in custody. That’s not happening here in Chicago. So I have drawn a very, very tight line and made it clear to every federal authority that I’ve spoken with, and they understand that if they cross that line, we will not hesitate to use every tool at our disposal to stop troops and unwanted agents in our city.”

Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN

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