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| Photo: sarah silbiger/press pool |
Federal officials to send hundreds of law-enforcement officers to Chicago and other cities to fight rising gun violence
Federal officials said they plan to send hundreds of law-enforcement officers to Chicago and other cities to help fight rising gun violence, as President Trump pressed a law-and-order message that paints the leaders of Democratic-run cities as too soft on crime.
In comments from the White House’s East Room on Wednesday, Mr. Trump blamed “extreme politicians” for the uptick in violence, part of an election-year push that some advisers hope will boost his support with suburban voters who defected from the Republican Party in the 2018 midterm elections.
“No mother should ever have to cradle her dead child in her arms simply because politicians refuse to do what is necessary to secure their neighborhood and to secure their city,” the president said.
At a White House news conference later Wednesday, Mr. Trump said, “The cities, unfortunately, that are in trouble are all run by Democrats. You have radical-left Democrats running cities like Chicago.”
Under the program, the Justice Department will send more than 200 federal agents to Chicago to help local police fight gun crime by arresting fugitives, solving shootings, thwarting illegal gun sales and prosecuting gun cases in federal court. The Homeland Security Department said it would also direct 100 of its agents already stationed in Chicago to investigate gangs and drug traffickers. A similar effort will take place in Albuquerque, N.M.
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The president is facing criticism from Democrats and some Republicans for a separate but overlapping move to send federal agents to Portland, Ore., to quell protests there, against the wishes of local officials. The president’s critics say the federal government is overstepping its traditional role of protecting federal property there and instead acting as riot police, with camouflaged agents who sometimes lack clear identification making arrests.
Typically, federal authorities leave public safety issues to state and local leaders. Although federal agents have the authority to protect federal interests and federal property—and to enforce federal law—even over the objection of local or state figures.
Attorney General William Barr, who joined the president at the event, made a point of differentiating between the efforts on gun crime, which have been launched on the same scale in prior years, with the separate push against protesters.Read the rest from the WSJ HERE and Follow links below to related stories:
Trump orders feds to Chicago, other cities to address ‘rampage of violence’
Trump deploys more federal agents under 'law-and-order' push
Trump to expand surge of federal law enforcement to Chicago, Albuquerque
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