President Donald Trump is taking his oath to protect the American people seriously. So seriously, in fact, that he has not been shy about deploying the military to restore order in major cities.
Trump’s first foray into this method of crime-fighting was invoking the Insurrection Act and dispatching the National Guard and Marines to restore order in Los Angeles, where rabble-rousers were “protesting” (read: rioting) against the Trump administration’s immigration raids. The president then federalized the Washington, DC, police force and filled the streets with National Guardsmen to help get the District’s crime problem under control. Surprisingly, Democrat Mayor Muriel Bowser has chosen to cooperate with Trump and welcomed the federal assistance. Carjackings are already down 87% from last year.
Trump’s success in both LA and DC has persuaded him to consider replicating his crime crackdown in other cities such as Chicago and Baltimore. These blue cities have been under Democrat control for many decades. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson — America’s worst mayor — have been outspoken in attempting to dissuade the president from interfering with their dastardly policies. Both have declared that crime is down and that there is no crisis. They also quickly point to the murder rates being higher in other cities, but if you go by which city has the most murders to date, Chicago wins.
Johnson had the chutzpah to sign an executive order on Saturday that bars local law enforcement from cooperating with federal forces. He also challenged Trump to put a stop to all the guns supposedly coming in from the neighboring red state of Indiana — a scapegoat narrative Democrats cite repeatedly to whitewash their own failed policies.
Trump paints a different picture, calling Chicago the “Murder Capital of the World.” He added that sending in National Guardsmen was a matter of when, not if: “We’re going in. I didn’t say when we’re going in. … This isn’t a political thing. I have an obligation.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Levitt explained: “These numbers are unacceptable. There have been more illegal guns recovered in Chicago than in New York City and Los Angeles combined, and the number of reported motor vehicle thefts last year was more than double the number in 2021. And Chicago has also — just like DC — come under scrutiny over discrepancies in its homicide data reportings. So, as bad as these numbers are, perhaps they are even worse.”
As a person born and raised in the Chicago area, I can tell you this Democrat trope isn’t new. They have perennially blamed the influx of guns on the Hoosier State. It’s ridiculous on its face. According to the Real-Time Crime Index, Indiana’s total number of murders from January through June of this year was 59. Chicago had 54 shootings over Labor Day weekend alone, eight of which were fatal.
Chicago has long been heralded as the murder capital, though Chicagoans know to avoid certain parts of the city to mitigate the odds of becoming a statistic. It’s generally always in the top 20 when it comes to murder rates.
Trump’s goal in trying to tackle crime in these big cities is to show residents that they don’t have to settle for the chaos and unrest that Democrat policies sow. Broken car windows and chalk outlines on streets don’t have to be the norm.
However, his plans might be stymied by rogue judges. Just last week, Obama-appointed Judge Charles Breyer said that President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated the Posse Comitatus Act in Los Angeles. This Act, which was passed in 1878, stipulates that the U.S. military cannot enforce domestic law. It states:
From and after the passage of this act it shall not be lawful to employ any part of the Army of the United States, as a posse comitatus, or otherwise, for the purpose of executing the laws, except in such cases and under such circumstances as such employment of said force may be expressly authorized by the Constitution or by act of Congress; and no money appropriated by this act shall be used to pay any of the expenses incurred in the employment of any troops in violation of this section and any person willfully violating the provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction thereof shall be punished by fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars or imprisonment not exceeding two years or by both such fine and imprisonment.
Leftists are celebrating, but one has to wonder if they realize the Posse Comitatus Act was enacted to protect white supremacists in the South while they implemented Jim Crow laws. Moreover, celebrating the continuation of high crime in urban areas proves the Left’s lack of common sense. Crime is a losing issue for the Democrats, and if Trump is able to restore order in cities like Chicago, that sends a big message and will sway some voters.
Trump will likely appeal Breyer’s ruling, and this fight will likely work its way to the Ninth Circuit and possibly even the Supreme Court. Some pundits like Ben Shapiro are confident that Breyer’s ruling will get struck down once it reaches a higher court. We will see.
If Trump is able to dispatch the National Guard to Chicago, that will win over many hearts in the poorest neighborhoods that have been inundated with illegal aliens and gang members. Americans would prefer to live in safe, clean neighborhoods.
