if cops don’t have the manpower, put national guard in place. That’s the easy part.
That's actually not as easy as you would think. Those in charge in Chicago are rejecting help and have said Chicago is a Trump free zone.
If Trump forces it the Ds will use it to call him a police state racist dictator that sent the National Guard in to terrorize the black community.
Emanuel: National Guard out of the question
Mayor
Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday rejected the idea of the National Guard patrolling the city as "antithetical" to the trust he's trying to build in law enforcement.
The mayor's comments came after President
Donald Trump on Tuesday evening took to Twitter to suggest he would "send in the Feds!" if Chicago doesn't "fix the horrible 'carnage' going on."
The president's tweet, however, did not specify what form that could take. At a Wednesday press briefing,
White House spokesman Sean Spicer didn't respond directly when asked whether Trump was talking about deploying National Guard troops to Chicago.
"There's no one thing," Spicer said. "There can be aid, if it was requested up through the governor through the proper channels that the federal government can provide on a law enforcement basis. But there's other aid that can be extended as well through the U.S. attorney's office or other means that will ensure the people of Chicago have the resources to feel safe. That's what he means. And part of it is that no American, whether or not you live in Chicago or Nebraska, shouldn't feel like you can walk down the streets of a city in this country and fear for your life. And I think too often that's happening in Chicago."
At
City Hall, Emanuel said the National Guard "has nothing to do with public safety" and that he was "against it, straight up."
Spicer indicated Trump was waiting for Emanuel to ask for help dealing with Chicago crime, referencing a meeting the two had in New York prior to Trump's inauguration. "I think the president-elect at the time extended his support to Mayor Emanuel to say that the resources of the federal government are here for you," Spicer said. "To the best of my knowledge, that return call for help has not occurred."
Aldermen reacted cautiously to the presidential tweet, saying the city could use more federal money and assistance but that armed troops patrolling the streets would be a mistake.
"I don't think we need troops in the city," said Ald.
Pat Dowell, 3rd. "Nobody wants to be subject to a curfew, home-to-home searches, cordoning off neighborhoods. I think we need more investment in terms of jobs, investment in our schools."
South Side Ald.
Toni Foulkes said sending National Guard units into the city's African-American neighborhoods would worsen conditions in those communities, where there is already a distrust of law enforcement.
"When the National Guard gets involved, you end up with curfews, militarization of neighborhoods," said Foulkes, 16th, who represents parts of Englewood, West Englewood, Chicago Lawn and Gage Park. "And especially in places like Englewood, neighborhoods where residents already feel like there's a racial basis to some of these decisions, that will not help matters."
Cardinal Blase Cupich, who was at City Hall to be honored for his recent elevation to cardinal, said the situation is "more complex" than one that can be dealt with simply by posting federal troops on Chicago streets. "The problem is surely much more complex than that type of a solution," he said.
Emanuel is in a tough spot. With Chicago's ongoing crime problems eroding local trust in his administration and garnering so much national attention from Trump and others, it could be difficult for the mayor to reject outright offers of help. But he might not want to be seen as turning over crime fighting to federal officials.