Chicago Alderman Raymond Lopez, a Democrat, told Newsmax on Monday that his city needs help from the Trump administration to keep the peace.
"We need the National Guard to help take off the pressure from the Chicago Police Department, which is guarding some of the city's assets," he said on "Newsline."
ABC 7 reported that in the first two days and nights of the long holiday weekend, 52 people have been shot and seven killed in Chicago.
Lopez pointed to the rash of crime over the weekend as reason enough for the city to welcome the deployment of National Guard troops.
"You know, public safety should never be a partisan issue," he said.
Lopez said he was disappointed in Mayor Brandon Johnson, a fellow Democrat, for taking a defiant stand against President Donald Trump's offer of assistance when crime statistics show the need.
"But yet the mayor is committed to this performance; he's committed to fighting Trump to help save his own reelection," he said. "And what we know is this. We've had multiple mass shootings in the city of Chicago this weekend."
The alderman said the mayor has lost touch with the city he's supposed to protect.
"And to look the Chicago people directly in their face and say 'don't worry, everything is fine, you're safer than you were last year,' no one believes it. The perception is that it matches reality, that you are in danger the moment you walk out of your house."
Lopez said the executive order initiated by the mayor barring the city's police from assisting government troops or agents with law enforcement matters shows Johnson is failing his city: "It's very easy for Brandon Johnson to put together these orders that are meaningless, but we need the help."
The mayor and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker don't mind accepting billions in federal government grants, "but when it comes to keeping people safe, they're all up in arms at the idea of having FBI, ATF, DEA, and National Guard here to protect people," Lopez said, referring to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
NBC5 in Chicago is among the media outlets that have reported that Trump could send guard troops and federal enforcement agents to Chicago as early as this Friday.
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Jim Mishler ✉
Jim Mishler, a seasoned reporter, anchor and news director, has decades of experience covering crime, politics and environmental issues.