Tricia McLaughlin, Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary for public affairs, sharply criticized Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker during a Monday morning appearance on Newsmax, accusing the Democrat governor of "dehumanizing and vilifying" Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and other federal law enforcement officers.
McLaughlin said Pritzker's rhetoric misrepresents the actions of federal officers and distorts the reality of violent confrontations that law enforcement faces.
"The way he's been framing this is completely to whitewash and manipulate the American people," she said on "Wake Up America."
"He's acting as if there's tear gassing of the public going on. That's absolutely not true," McLauglin added.
McLauglin also described increasingly hostile encounters between federal officers and organized agitators.
"What the facts on the ground are, we are routinely seeing highly organized agitators and rioters not only stalk our law enforcement but then surround them, begin throwing rocks at them, and otherwise assaulting them," McLaughlin said.
"They will deploy tear gas to control that crowd as a method to make sure that the public is safe."
McLaughlin charged that Pritzker's characterization of law enforcement actions emboldens criminal elements and undermines public safety in cities like Chicago.
"But JB Pritzker, he continues to dehumanize and vilify our law enforcement officers as they are simply enforcing the rule of law, something that JB Pritzker refuses to do time and time again, and why we see such rampant crime in Chicago and the broader Illinois area," she said.
She also questioned Pritzker's judgment in recent statements he made about pausing immigration enforcement efforts on Halloween.
"Does he want MS-13, Tren de Aragua and these other vicious gangs to have a free-for-all because it's Oct. 31, because it's Halloween?" McLaughlin asked.
McLaughlin also addressed the Trump administration's legal battle over a court ruling blocking the deployment of National Guard troops to Portland, Oregon.
"We'll fight this out in court, and we'll have a ruling come Friday, but this is just more of the same of these really activist judges who are trying to get in the way of our law enforcement operations," she said.
McLaughlin argued that sanctuary city policies have tied the hands of local police from helping enforce federal immigration law.
"These men and women on the ground of Portland, of Chicago, of these sanctuary cities, they're routinely attacked by agitators and rioters, and, because of the sanctuary city politicians and their policies, local law enforcement isn't allowed to help them and give them backup," she said.
"That's exactly why President [Donald] Trump has called for the National Guard to surge to these cities," McLaughlin added, emphasizing that DHS would continue to explore options to protect officers and restore order.
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