The New York Post reports that President Trump contacted Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Wednesday evening to confirm his plans to send 200 federal agents to Chicago to combat “a rampage of violence.”
In a statement obtained by The Chicago Sun-Times, the mayor Lightfoot’s office said President Trump “reached out to Mayor Lightfoot this evening to confirm that he plans to send federal resources to Chicago to supplement ongoing federal investigations pertaining to violent crime.”
“The conversation was brief and straightforward,” the statement said.
Lightfoot previously vowed to stop the feds from entering Chicago but is now in agreement over the strategy of sending in agents to plug into existing operations, the paper reported.
“Mayor Lightfoot maintains that all resources will be investigatory in nature and be coordinated through the U.S. Attorney’s office,” the statement said. “The Mayor has made clear that if there is any deviation from what has been announced, we will pursue all available legal options to protect Chicagoans.”
President Trump is deploying officers to Chicago and to Albuquerque, New Mexico, as part of “Operation Legend” an anti-violence initiative, which is named for LeGend Taliferro, a 4-year-old who was shot dead in Kansas City.
Earlier this month, federal officers were sent into Portland, Oregon, to protect a federal courthouse from violent rioters, and also to Kansas City to stop the violence as part of Operation Legend.
The efforts in Chicago, however, would not resemble the heavily criticized presence in Portland, where camouflaged federal agents have patrolled streets and made arrests in an attempt to protect federal buildings, according to the Sun-Times.
The federal agents would collaborate with Chicago police and Lightfoot’s office under the direction of U.S. Attorney John Lausch, who Lightfoot, a former federal prosecutor, knows and trusts, the paper reported.
“This is not patrol. This is not against civil unrest,” Lausch told the outlet ahead of Trump’s announcement. “This is working with the Chicago Police Department to do what we can to reduce the staggering violent crime we’re facing right now.”
The federal teams will focus on “gangs, guns and drugs,” he said.
They may wear tactical gear or work undercover, but will not be dressed in camouflage, Lausch added.
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