CHICAGO (NewsNation) — A Chicago alderman is arguing that President Donald Trump’s offer to send National Guard troops should be accepted to help combat crime in the nation’s third-largest city.
Alderman Raymond Lopez, a Democrat representing the 15th Ward on Chicago’s West Side, said residents “live in a state of fear” and that city officials should work with Trump rather than reject federal assistance.
“If the mayor and the governor continue to say crime is down, crime is decreasing, everything’s great, then why don’t we take Donald Trump up on his offer and go even further,” Lopez told NewsNation’s “Elizabeth Vargas Reports.”
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His comments came as Trump vowed to deploy troops to Chicago following a Labor Day weekend that saw eight people killed and 58 injured in shootings across the city. The president called Chicago a “hellhole” and “the murder capital of the world,” though 20 American cities actually have higher murder rates than Chicago.
Gov. JB Pritzker rejected Trump’s suggestion that he should call and request federal troops, saying “Chicago does not want troops on our streets” and that he refuses “to play a reality game show with Donald Trump again.”
Trump said he wanted Pritzker to call him and acknowledge the city’s problems. “The people have to be protected,” Trump said, praising Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser for cooperating with federal authorities.
A federal judge in California ruled Tuesday that Trump violated the Posse Comitatus Act — which prohibits military forces from acting as law enforcement — when he deployed National Guard troops to Los Angeles in June.
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Lopez said National Guard members could provide security at tourist attractions like Navy Pier and the Magnificent Mile, freeing up police officers to patrol neighborhoods.
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“We need the actual presence of the National Guard to focus on the assets of the city so that our police can go into the communities and go after those individual gang members, drug dealers and human traffickers,” Lopez said.
The alderman criticized Mayor Brandon Johnson’s response to weekend violence, mocking Johnson’s claim that gun trafficking from red states was to blame.
“I’m actually quite surprised he didn’t blame the Confederacy, Richard Nixon or colonialism,” Lopez said.
Lopez also supported federal immigration enforcement, saying he welcomed ICE agents to identify what he called “2,000 high priority targets” who came from Texas and were “identified as serious dangers” to the city and country.
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Trump said Tuesday he was sending federal agents to Chicago but declined to specify when a National Guard deployment might occur. “We’re going in,” Trump said. “I have an obligation — this isn’t political, I have an obligation.”
Lopez blamed all sides for engaging in “political performance” instead of coordinating efforts to address violence. He said two teenagers were shot in his ward the same day city and state leaders said they didn’t need help.
“It’s shameful, really, because that’s what actually is driving a lot of the concern,” Lopez said, urging leaders to communicate directly rather than engage in “social media, TikTok battles.”
