"Don't come to Chicago", said Illinois Governor JB Pritzker confidently, surrounded by politicians, businessmen and church representatives. This is how he responded to Donald Trump's threats to send the National Guard to the state capital because of the crime there.
Crime is falling, but according to Trump it is a "slaughterhouse"
Trump's plans are an attempt to intimidate political opponents, said Pritzker. Chicago and Illinois are "blue", i.e. governed by Democrats. Trump is also threatening Baltimore and New York with the National Guard - other "blue" cities that also have black mayors.
According to local police, homicides in Chicago have dropped by 30% in the last year. Trump disputes this and claims that it was a “slaughterhouse”. Each American state has its own National Guard, ARD recalls. But a 19th century law allows the president to take control of it - for example, in the event of an uprising. More than two weeks ago, Donald Trump ordered the Washington National Guard to take to the streets of the capital. Since Columbia is not a state but a federal district, it reports directly to the president. However, there are doubts about whether Trump's actions were legal.
Washington residents are against deploying soldiers to the city
Although everyday life continues to go on generally normally, for Natalie Grover it is not normal to see soldiers on the streets of her city, she tells ARD's Carsten Küntop. A recent survey of Grover's fellow citizens shows that 80% of Washington residents are against a military presence in their city.
Currently, about 2,200 National Guard members are stationed in Washington. Several Republican states have also sent their troops. Their presence is especially strong around the political and historical center - between the Capitol and the Lincoln Memorial. In general, however, this part of Washington is not particularly crime-prone.
The soldiers walk around in small groups, and they are armed. They look bored, some greet or feed squirrels, and tourists take selfies with them, ARD reports.
Trump is increasingly interfering in the politics of individual states
The use of the military on the territory of the country and assigning them responsibilities that are inherent to the police is prohibited by a law from 1878. The idea of creating the American militias, which later became the National Guard, is to have a means of opposing an aggressive federal government.
It is Republicans who have always argued that the federal states should have as much autonomous power as possible, and that the task of the federal government is to ensure the preservation of the United States as a federation.
However, Trump has changed this. He uses his power to interfere in the politics of cities and states. According to his critics, this is an abuse of office and tyranny. However, there is no particular criticism within his own ranks. Only Vermont Governor Phil Scott, a Republican, said he refused to send his guards to Washington. According to him, such a step is unnecessary.
"This is how democracies die"
Now President Trump wants to take it one step further. He ordered the creation of a new specialized unit within the National Guard. It will be responsible for "maintaining security and order" in Washington. In addition, guardsmen across the country must be ready for rapid intervention in the event of civil unrest.
Randy Manner, who is a former deputy head of the National Guard, is shocked. In an interview with CNN, he said that the president officially wants to create military units to monitor Americans. This is "absolutely intolerable", he told the media. He says this is very reminiscent of events in Germany after the Nazi takeover in the 1930s.
Since the District of Columbia can only govern itself to a limited extent, the residents of Washington have little opportunity to resist. In Chicago, the situation is likely to be different, notes the ARD. At the rally there, Dick Durbin, a Democratic senator from Illinois, called for demonstrations. "This is how democracies die," he said. When people do not stand up for "basic constitutional rights and freedoms."
Author: Carsten Künthoff (ARD)