Thousands of protesters filled the streets near downtown Chicago last night, singing, chanting and waving banners in protest against threats by US President Donald Trump to deploy US National Guard soldiers and agents of the federal immigration agency in the city, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
It was one of about 1,000 protests across the country under the slogan “Workers over Billionaires” on the occasion of Labor Day in the United States.
The demonstration in Chicago, however, had a decidedly more edgy tone, as the city's residents were outraged by Trump's promise to turn his attention to Chicago after deploying troops to Los Angeles and Washington, two other Democratic-controlled cities, Reuters notes.
In a speech to the gathered protesters, Mayor Brandon Johnson promised that Chicago would resist federal government intervention.
"This is the city that will protect the country," he said to thunderous applause from the protesters.
According to organizers, between 5,000 and 10,000 people participated in the protest, although Reuters notes that it was unable to confirm this information.
In recent weeks, Trump has called Chicago a city with high crime rates, calling it “mess“, “hell“ and “killing field“. Protesters, however, said they did not believe that deploying National Guard troops would solve the city's crime problem.
Leaders in the state of Illinois and Chicago have already prepared measures to protect the city from the deployment of federal troops and are likely to file a number of lawsuits against Trump's plan.
Mayor Johnson on Saturday signed an executive order stating that Chicago police will not cooperate with federal agents or National Guard troops.