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Democratic Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson gave a fiery news conference where he condemned President Donald Trump’s crackdown on crime. At one point, he said, “Jails and incarceration and law enforcement is a sickness that has not led to safe communities.”
During the news conference Tuesday, Johnson was asked about Trump’s suggestion he might send the National Guard to Chicago. Trump’s model of using anti-crime crackdowns was touted as a success by Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser, who had initially expressed concern.
“Is there any reason for the president to deploy National Guard troops or other armed military personnel to Chicago to focus on crime or violence?” the reporter asked.
Johnson responded by paraphrasing a quotation from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., saying, “You know, Dr. King referred to militarism as a sickness. Unfortunately, this president is full of that sickness. There are no circumstances under which the deployment of American soldiers should be sent in cities across America.”
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Later in the same news conference, Johnson cited that there were 970 murders in Chicago in 1974, 828 murders there in 1995, 778 murders in 2016 and more recently 805 murders there in 2021. He said that while even one murder is too many, he is upset by the idea that more law enforcement is the answer that people propose.
“I get so sick and tired of people in this country and in this city that believe that the only thing that you can offer Black people and poor people is jails, incarceration and police officers,” he said. “Dr. King said this right here in Chicago, the National Conference on New Politics. What did he say? He said, ‘Militarism is a sickness.’ I am trying to eradicate the sickness from this city and from this country!”
He went on to argue that nobody in Chicago has asked him to use troops to bring down crime, arguing that he is using other methods to do so, and that law enforcement itself is actually harmful to the community.
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“The fact of the matter is we are driving violence down in this city, and we’re using every single resource that’s available to us. Jails and incarceration and law enforcement is a sickness that has not led to safe communities!” he argued. “I’m going to work hard every single day to protect the people who are caught up in the violence in this city. Guess why? You want to know why? Because the vast majority of them look like me!”
He then asserted that his methods he is employing are working, and he refuses to let Trump’s administration take credit for it if they get involved.
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Fox News Digital reached out to a White House spokesperson, who replied, “If these Democrats focused on fixing crime in their own cities instead of doing publicity stunts to criticize the President, their communities would be much safer. Cracking down on crime should not be a partisan issue, but Democrats suffering from TDS are trying to make it one. They should listen to fellow Democrat Mayor Muriel Bowser who recently celebrated the Trump Administration’s success in driving down violent crime in Washington DC.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Johnson’s office for additional comment.
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