Greetings and welcome to the current developments in US politics. We start with the report that a small number of state military forces has started protecting federal property in the Greater Chicago region and supporting police operations in Memphis on Wednesday, according to officials.
Deployment Details
An unit of two hundred Texas military personnel were working in the Chicago area, according to a spokesperson for the US Northern Command, who spoke to the news agency on background basis in order to reveal mission specifics that have not been officially released.
The military personnel are in the urban area to protect US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) buildings and other federal facilities and law enforcement personnel, Northern Command said online.
The forces, along with about three hundred Illinois personnel, had reached on Tuesday at a US Army Reserve Center in Elwood, approximately 90 kilometers southwest of Chicago. All 500 troops are under the Northern Command and have been deployed for two months. The official wasn't able to immediately offer information about how the troops were armed.
Background Situation
It comes as Donald Trump on Wednesday demanded the jailing of Brandon Johnson, Chicago's city leader, and JB Pritzker, the Illinois governor, accusing them of failing to protect US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers.
"Chicago Mayor should be in jail for failing to protect Ice Officers!" Trump posted on his social media platform on Wednesday morning. "The state governor also!"
Both the mayor and governor are members of the Democratic party. Trump's comments coincide with national guard troops have started deployment in the Greater Chicago region at the direction of the federal administration, despite opposition from Illinois officials, including the governor and mayor.
Other Updates
- The president announced that Hamas and Israel have agreed to a provisional agreement to cease hostilities in Gaza, and release captured individuals and detained persons.
- News of the Middle East deal was praised by GOP legislators, who urged Trump to be given the Nobel Peace prize this week, but greeted with more trepidation by Arab-American communities.
- During White House event, Trump seemed unfamiliar with the term 'Habeas Corpus' and deferred to his homeland security secretary. In May, Noem gave a wildly inaccurate explanation of the fundamental legal concept that requires that the authorities provide a public reason for arresting and jailing people.
- All of the participants who contributed testimony at the White House "antifa roundtable" organized by the president on Wednesday were self-described independent journalists who might more accurately described as political content creators. The influencers report on leftwing protests in a partisan fashion, more similar to opposition research than neutral journalism.
- Senate Republicans rejected a military authorization measure that would have limited Trump's authority to use lethal armed action against suspected drug smugglers after Democrats tried to counter the government's extraordinary use of the armed forces to eliminate vessels in the Caribbean Sea.
- During the White House "political discussion" on Wednesday, at least a participant echoed Trump's inaccurate statement that large numbers of people have been killed by political extremists in Portland, Oregon. The accurate count of fatal incidents by self-described "antifa" radicals in Portland is: one.
