By Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner | Wirepoints
There’s no predicting how and to what extent protests will escalate across the country, and whether the deployment of the National Guard and Marines in LA will have served as a deterrent of riots in other big cities like Chicago. It’s in the nation’s best interest for any burning, looting and murder, like what overtook the country in 2020, be nipped in the bud.
But if we learned anything from yesterday’s Congressional testimony by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Illinois’ leaders will continue to push a climate of resistance, non-compliance and unrest.
Pritzker doubled down on his previous rhetoric of “you come for my people, you come through me” when in his testimony he directly defied the federal government’s immigration effort. “I will stand in the way of Tom Homan…” Pritzker said, and openly challenged him: “If Tom Homan were to try to arrest me, I can say first of all, he can try.”
His words piled on top of all the dangerous messaging that Chicago’s other leaders continue to promote, like Mayor Johnson’s comparison of ICE’s actions to that of the Confederacy. Or Sen. Tammy Duckworth’s declaration that “Trump is using military force to crush civilian dissent.” Or Pritzker’s earlier calls for “mass protests and disruption” and comparisons of the MAGA movement to Nazism.
Even if you argue that they’ve all voiced rejection of violence in some way, collectively their language, both past and present, is creating a powder keg. Their words incite rather than deter violence. That, along with Pritzker and Johnson’s shielding of criminals from deportation by refusing to work with federal agents, is putting Illinois and everyday Illinoisans at risk.
It’s important to take Illinois leaders’ comments within the following context:
- The federal government’s efforts to aggressively deport violent illegal criminals is a direct and necessary response to the open, uncontrolled and chaotic border policies of Pres. Biden that allowed tens of thousands of criminals, along with millions of illegal immigrants, into the country.
- Some leaders are providing a counter-example to Gov. Pritzker on how to handle ICE protests. Texas Gov. Abbott has preemptively called on the Texas National Guard to be ready to quell any violence to protect his residents. And Florida’ Gov. Ron DeSantis has already signed “anti-rioting” language into state law, and has promised to crack down hard on any potential violence.
- Chicago has led the country in total homicides for 13 straight years. Violent crime also spiked to a six-year high as recently as May 2024. Chicagoans need more protection, not less. They need fewer violent criminals in Chicago, not more.
Mayor Johnson’s rhetoric has often been more radical than Pritzker’s. During a recent press event the Mayor called for a general resistance: “I am counting on all of Chicago to resist in this moment. It’s a war on our humanity. Whatever particular vulnerable group is being targeted today, another group will be next.” He also declared that the current immigration enforcement efforts are a reflection of “what our country would look like had the Confederacy won.”
Read on here.
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