As some Illinois public officials are among the loudest in the chorus of calls against President Donald Trump deploying the National Guard to Chicago, some organizers want one in particular to do more.
A group of activists from dozens of community organizations held a press conference Thursday at Daley Plaza opposing the threats of deploying troops in Chicago and called on Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke to refuse to cooperate with the federal government.
“I want to thank every elected official that stood up with us against this fight against Trump and his administration,” said Jasmine Smith, an organizer with the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Oppression. “But we have an elected official, State’s Attorney Eileen Burke, that has yet to commit.”
The crowd, holding signs that read “Trump’s troops will not make us safe” and “Tell State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke no cooperation” booed and yelled “shame” when Smith mentioned O’Neill Burke.
“We call on the state’s attorney to join other government officials and pledging not to enable racist attacks from the federal administration that will unnecessarily criticize Chicago communities,” Smith said.
Asha Ransby-Sporn with the Chicago Black Voter Project didn’t mention O’Neill Burke by name but referenced the state’s attorney’s office.
“We should call on her office to not cooperate and remember who stood where when election time comes around,” Ransby-Sporn said.
When asked to respond to the activists’ criticisms, a spokesperson for O’Neill Burke referred the Sun-Times to a statement released by Illinois leaders, including a quote from O’Neill Burke which “states our position clearly.”
O’Neill Burke attended a press conference Monday with other Illinois Democrats rejecting the plan to sent troops, but didn’t speak. In a press release from Gov. J.B. Pritzker and other state leaders, O’Neill Burke said federal involvement won’t deter her office from doing its typical job.
“The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office works with local, state, and federal law enforcement officers every day to get illegal guns and violent criminals off our streets,” O’Neill Burke said in the release. “We prosecute crimes in collaboration with our law enforcement partners when they are properly presented with appropriate jurisdiction and sufficient evidence. Federal intervention in our public safety efforts will never result in a deviation from our core mission of following the law and representing all victims of crime in Cook County.”
Since Trump federalized the police force in Washington D.C., ordered the National Guard to patrol the streets and targeted Chicago to do the same, Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson have pushed back, citing some of the lowest crime rates in the past decade. This year, the city has seen homicides decline by 30%, a nearly 35% decline in robberies and a 40% decline in shootings.
Trump has called Chicago a “killing field” and characterized the city as rampant with street crime. The north suburban Naval Station Great Lakes could be used to house ICE agents and National Guard troops for much of September, the Sun-Times reported.
Local organizers decried that characterization and said militarizing Chicago’s streets isn’t the way to increase safety and slash crime rates. “We keep us safe” was the resounding cry from speakers and supporters, who asserted that investment in community programs, education and healthcare will stem crime.
“Real safety comes from the ground up, from investing in individuals, families and communities so that everyone has what they need to thrive,” said Marlon Chamberlain, founder and executive director of Illinois Coalition to End Permanent Punishments. “That is the work that we’ve all been doing here in Chicago.”
Navy veteran and organizer with the Nikolas Lee Foundation Ledell Hayes said members of the military have a responsibility to the people and the constitution, not the president.
“They’re a part of the military, so they took that same oath to protect the Constitution and the people,” Hayes said. “The National Guard needs to remember that they are the people as well, and they should be standing with the people, not against the people.”
The message was clear that activists at the press conference don’t want the National Guard in Chicago at all, but organizations are holding “know your rights” events to inform people about what to do if troops do come. Watching the actions of federal agents in Washington D.C. and Los Angeles has taught organizers what they might do in Chicago, said Richard Wallace, executive director of Equity and Transformation.
“We got to let our people know exactly what’s going on and how to protect themselves,” Wallace said.