Greetings and welcome to the latest developments in US politics. We start with the report that a small number of state military forces has begun guarding government facilities in the Greater Chicago region and supporting police operations in Memphis on Wednesday, as confirmed by authorities.
Deployment Details
An element of 200 Texas Guard troops were operating in the Greater Chicago region, as stated by a representative for the US Northern Command, who communicated with the news agency on condition of anonymity in order to reveal operational details that have not been made public.
The military personnel are in the city to protect US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) buildings and other federal facilities and police officers, Northern Command stated publicly.
The forces, along with about three hundred Illinois personnel, had arrived Tuesday at a US Army Reserve Center in Elwood, approximately 90 kilometers southwest of Chicago. All five hundred personnel are under the Northern Command and have been deployed for two months. The official wasn't able to quickly provide details about how the personnel were equipped.
Political Context
It comes as Donald Trump on Wednesday called for the jailing of Brandon Johnson, Chicago's city leader, and JB Pritzker, the state governor, accusing them of failing to protect US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel.
"The city's mayor should be in jail for failing to protect ICE personnel!" Trump wrote on his social media platform on Wednesday morning. "The state governor also!"
Both Johnson and Pritzker are members of the Democratic party. Trump's remarks coincide with state military forces have started deployment in the Chicago area at the order of the federal administration, despite opposition from Illinois officials, including Pritzker and Johnson.
Other Updates
- The president declared that Hamas and Israel have agreed to a tentative deal to end the fighting in Gaza, and release Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners.
- Reports about the Middle East deal was praised by Republican lawmakers, who called on Trump to be awarded the Nobel Peace prize this week, but received with greater caution by Palestinian Americans.
- During White House event, Trump appeared not to recognize the term 'Habeas Corpus' and deferred to Kristi Noem. In May, Noem gave a wildly inaccurate explanation of the fundamental legal concept that requires that the authorities provide a public reason for arresting and jailing people.
- All of the participants who provided statements at the White House "antifa roundtable" organized by the administration on Wednesday were identified as freelance reporters who might better be called political content creators. The influencers cover leftwing protests in a highly political manner, more similar to political investigation than neutral journalism.
- GOP senators rejected a military authorization measure that would have checked Trump's authority to use lethal armed action against alleged narcotics traffickers after Democrats tried to counter the administration's extraordinary use of the armed forces to eliminate vessels in the Caribbean Sea.
- During the White House "political discussion" on Wednesday, at least one witness repeated Trump's inaccurate statement that significant amounts of people have been killed by left-wing radicals in Portland, Oregon. The correct number of killings by self-described "antifa" radicals in Portland is: a single incident.
