Is this is an appropriate use of federal money and manpower? Are these authorities trained to do this type of low-level policing?
Chicago, get ready: «The Pentagon has for weeks been planning a military deployment to Chicago as President Donald Trump says he wants to crack down on crime, homelessness and undocumented immigration, in a model that could later be used in other major cities, officials familiar with the matter said», reports The . It looks like at least a few thousand National Guardsman will be mobilized there as soon as next month. «The mission, if approved, would have parallels to the polarizing and legally contested operation that Trump ordered in Los Angeles in June, when he deployed 4,000 members of the California National Guard and 700 active-duty Marines despite the protests of state and local leaders. The use of thousands of active-duty troops in Chicago also has been discussed but is considered less likely at this time, said two officials who, like others interviewed, spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.»
In D.C., more than 2,200 National Guardsman are still deployed, ostensibly to crack down on serious crime in the district, such as the recent spate of carjackings, one of which threatened the life of government worker Edward Coristine. But «the stream of defendants who shuffled through a federal courtroom on Thursday afternoon illustrated the new ways in which laws are being enforced in the nation’s capital after the president’s takeover of the city’s police», reports The New York Times. «They were appearing before a magistrate judge on charges that would typically be handled at the local court level, if they were filed at all. One man had been arrested over an open container of alcohol. Another had been charged with threatening the president after delivering a drunken outburst following his arrest on vandalism.» (The guy in question was mentally off his rocker, having just damaged lights outside of a restaurant, and just said a bunch of crazy things before starting to sing. Law enforcement paged the Secret Service claiming «he just made threats to kill the president.»)
Getting lowlifes off the streets is a perfectly fine thing for law enforcement to do! But is this is an appropriate use of federal money and manpower? Are these authorities trained to do this type of low-level policing? And will the lawsuits that inevitably result be worth it? (Say, in the case of Torez Riley, who was arrested at Trader Joe’s. Police say he had two handguns in his bag; multiple prosecutors inside the U.S. attorney’s office say the search was in violation of Riley’s Fourth Amendment rights.)
New developments in the Abrego Garcia case: Salvadoran national and Maryland resident Kilmar Abrego Garcia was mistakenly deported by the Trump administration back in March, in violation of a judge’s order (background here: «Innocent Father or MS-13 Gang Member?»). He has since been brought back, but detained on human smuggling charges. «He has pleaded not guilty and has asked the judge to dismiss the case, claiming that it is an attempt to punish him for challenging his deportation to El Salvador», per NPR.
