Hello and welcome to the latest updates in US politics. We start with the news 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, as confirmed by authorities.
Deployment Details
An unit of two hundred Texas military personnel were working in the Chicago area, according to a representative for the US Northern Command, who spoke to the news agency on condition of anonymity in order to reveal operational details that have not been made public.
The troops are in the city to secure US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities and other government properties and police officers, Northern Command stated publicly.
The troops, along with about 300 from Illinois, had reached on Tuesday at a US Army Reserve Center in Elwood, 55 miles southwest of Chicago. All 500 troops are under the military command and have been activated for 60 days. The official wasn't able to immediately offer information about how the personnel were equipped.
Background Situation
It comes as Donald Trump on Wednesday called for the imprisonment of Brandon Johnson, Chicago's mayor, and JB Pritzker, the Illinois governor, charging them of failing to protect US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers.
"Chicago Mayor should be in prison for failing to protect ICE personnel!" Trump posted on Truth Social on Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker also!"
Both Johnson and Pritzker are Democrats. 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 Pritzker and Johnson.
Other Updates
- Donald Trump declared that the conflicting parties have agreed to a tentative deal to end the fighting in Gaza, and release Israeli hostages and detained persons.
- Reports about the Middle East deal was applauded by Republican lawmakers, who called on Trump to be awarded the peace award this week, but received with greater caution by Arab-American communities.
- During White House event, Trump seemed unfamiliar with the term 'Habeas Corpus' and deferred to Kristi Noem. In May, Noem gave a highly incorrect definition of the fundamental legal concept that mandates that the government provide a public reason for detaining and imprisoning people.
- All of the participants who provided statements at the White House "antifa roundtable" organized by the administration on Wednesday were identified as freelance reporters who might better be called political content creators. The content producers report on liberal demonstrations in a highly political manner, more similar to political investigation than neutral journalism.
- Senate Republicans rejected a military authorization measure that would have checked Trump's authority to use lethal armed action against alleged narcotics traffickers after Democrats tried to counter the administration's extraordinary use of the armed forces to destroy boats in the Caribbean.
- During the White House "antifa roundtable" on Wednesday, at least a participant echoed Trump's false claim that large numbers of people have been killed by political extremists in Portland, Oregon. The accurate count of fatal incidents by political activists in Portland is: one.
