LEGAL CHALLENGE AND CHICAGO THREAT
D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb has filed a lawsuit calling the deployment unconstitutional. While some residents support the Guard, many have criticised the troops’ heavy presence in downtown and tourist areas.
Trump has hinted at wider crackdowns, threatening to send federal forces to Chicago. In a social media post parodying the Vietnam War film Apocalypse Now, he wrote: “I love the smell of deportations in the morning,” alongside an AI-generated image of himself in military garb.
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker accused Trump of preparing an “invasion” with ICE agents and military vehicles. Chicago’s Democratic leadership has vowed to resist the move.
DIVIDED CITY RESPONSE
Mayor Muriel Bowser praised the surge of federal law enforcement but urged an end to the Guard mission soon, saying crime, including carjackings, had fallen.
“What they’re trying to do in D.C. is what they’re trying to do with other dictatorships,” said another protester, who gave his name only as Casey. “If people tolerate it here, they’re going to do it in more and more areas. So we have to stop it while we still can.”
