On Sunday, Kristi Noem, governor of South Dakota, called Chicago “a war zone.” This new statement follows the city’s ironic and unfortunate recent history of federal agents shooting a woman in the city. This comes as tensions continue to intensify over crime and perceived federal intervention in America’s cities. In fact, none other than Chicago has faced the biggest surge of federal muscle and fury.
Federal agents shot a Latina woman who turned out to be a U.S citizen, unconnected to the protests. At the time of the incident, she was allegedly armed with a semi-automatic weapon. In a related case, authorities accused her of doxing federal agents in an April 2020 U.S. Customs and Border Protection intelligence bulletin. In an ironic twist, after the Chicago move was announced, Noem called for federal agents to withdraw from Chicago. Yet she made clear that their current deployment is not addressing the crime crisis appropriately.
According to Noem, the deployment of federal resources has led to a reduction in crime, stating, “People are much safer, we have got a thousand criminals that are off the streets of [Chicago], just because we’ve been there.” Her comments align with remarks made by former President Donald Trump, who indicated that Chicago could be next on the list for federal intervention, saying, “We’re going to be doing Chicago probably next.”
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat, lashed out at the Trump administration’s handling of the situation. He asserted that it is contributing to deepening the crisis rather than helping to solve it. “Well, it’s absolutely outrageous and un-American.” IMAGE via Alex Wroblewski / Getty reproducible He outlined that decision to deploy national guard troops to Chicago as “absolutely outrageous.” Pritzker then claimed that this action was taken “despite our objection.” Beyond that, he was clear on the fact that the federal government is the one creating a war zone.
Brandon Johnson, the new mayor of Chicago, has made no secret of his displeasure with the federal strategy. He’s spoken out against the Trump administration’s ICE raids and spoken out against the deployment of national guard troops to Illinois. The national guard had earlier been deployed to several other U.S. cities, including Chicago, at the request of the federal government.
In a recent post on X (formerly Twitter), Pritzker elaborated on his frustration with the situation, stating, “The Trump Administration’s Department of War gave me an ultimatum: call up your troops, or we will.” His comments underscore the increasingly fraught relationship between state leaders and the Trump FTA over the direction and purpose of law enforcement strategies.
She remarked, “It’s wrong, there should be consequences for that and for leaders that stand up and knowingly lie about the situation on the ground.” She further accused Pritzker of intentionally misrepresenting conditions within Chicago, asserting that he is “lying so that criminals can go in there and destroy people’s lives.”
As tensions continue to rise over crime rates and federal intervention in Chicago, the responses from both state and federal leadership reveal a deepening divide on how best to address public safety and law enforcement in urban settings.