Greetings and welcome to the current developments in American political affairs. We start with the report that a small number of state military forces has started protecting government facilities in the Chicago area and supporting police operations in Memphis on Wednesday, as confirmed by authorities.
Troop Information
An element of 200 Texas Guard troops were working in the Greater Chicago region, according to a representative for the US Northern Command, who communicated with the Associated Press on condition of anonymity in order to discuss operational details that have not been made public.
The military personnel are in the city to secure US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities and other government properties and police officers, Northern Command stated publicly.
The troops, along with about three hundred Illinois personnel, had reached on Tuesday at a US Army Reserve Center in Elwood, 55 miles southwest of Chicago. All five hundred personnel are under the Northern Command and have been deployed for 60 days. The official wasn't able to quickly provide information about how the personnel were equipped.
Background Situation
It coincides with Donald Trump on Wednesday demanded 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) officers.
"The city's mayor should be in jail for not protecting ICE personnel!" Trump wrote on his social media platform on Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker also!"
Both the mayor and governor are Democrats. Trump's comments come as state military forces have started deployment in the Chicago area at the order of the Trump administration, despite objections from state authorities, including Pritzker and Johnson.
Other Updates
- The president declared that the conflicting parties have accepted a tentative deal to end the fighting in Gaza, and release Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners.
- News of the Middle East deal was applauded by GOP legislators, who called on Trump to be given the peace award this week, but greeted with more trepidation by Arab-American communities.
- During presidential gathering, Trump appeared not to recognize the term 'Habeas Corpus' and deferred to Kristi Noem. In May, Noem gave a highly incorrect explanation of the fundamental legal concept that requires that the authorities provide a official justification for arresting and jailing people.
- All of the witnesses who contributed testimony at the White House "antifa roundtable" hosted by the administration on Wednesday were self-described independent journalists who might better be called partisan conservative social media influencers. The content producers cover leftwing protests in a partisan fashion, more similar to political investigation than neutral journalism.
- Senate Republicans rejected a war powers resolution that would have limited Trump's authority to use deadly military force against suspected drug smugglers after Democrats tried to oppose the administration's extraordinary use of the armed forces to destroy boats in the Caribbean Sea.
- During the White House "political discussion" on Wednesday, at least a participant repeated Trump's false claim that large numbers of people have been murdered by left-wing radicals in the Oregon city. The accurate count of killings by self-described "antifa" radicals in Portland is: one.
