Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), part of United States Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), is planning a mission for 150 federal agents to assist other federal law enforcement efforts in Chicago, where homicide rates have soared.
“So far in 2020, Chicago has experienced one of its most violent years in recent memory, especially since late May with the fallout over the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minnesota,” the Chicago Tribune reported near the end of its article on the development.
“Through July 12, homicides in Chicago were up 48 percent with 385, compared to 260 at the same time last year, official CPD statistics show,” the Tribune reported. “Shootings were also up by 46 percent.
“During a 28-day period through July 12, 116 people were slain in Chicago, the statistics show,” the Tribune reported. “That’s up from 41 during the same period in 2019.”
The Tribune reported that an unnamed city official said they had heard about the plan but knew no specifics, and the Chicago Police Department did not comment for the report.
The Tribune reported on Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s remarks at an unrelated press conference.
“We don’t need federal agents without any insignia taking people off the streets and holding them, I think, unlawfully,” Lightfoot said.
“[The] left-wing group of people that are running our cities are not doing the job that they’re supposed to be doing, and it’s not a very tough job to do if they knew what they were doing,” Trump told reporters.
The Tribune reported:
Without offering specifics, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows told Fox News over the weekend that Trump, Attorney General William Barr and acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf would roll out a plan this week about tamping down on crime in various U.S. cities.
“Some of the unrest that we saw, even in the last month or so, but particularly last night and in the week leading up to it in Portland, is just not acceptable when you look at communities not being safe and not upholding the rule of law,” Meadows said. “So, Attorney General Barr is weighing in on that with (DHS) Secretary Wolf, and you’ll see something rolled out this week as we start to go in and make sure that the communities – whether it’s Chicago, or Portland, or Milwaukee, or some place across the heartland of the country – we need to make sure their communities are safe.”
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