The Department of Homeland Security’s deputy secretary said Chicago’s Democratic mayor has reversed course and gotten on board with President Trump’s plan to send federal law enforcement into the city.
“The mayor who was saying, ‘Oh, no Trump, no federal officials, no,’ has turned 180 degrees. And you know why? Because we’re doing it cooperatively as President Trump has always offered to do,” Ken Cuccinelli, a senior official performing the duties of deputy secretary, told Fox News host Shannon Bream late Thursday. “He repeated it again today — his goal is to lower the violence. It’s to lower the carnage. It’s to bring safety to these communities.”
The Department of Justice announced this week the expansion of Operation Legend, a coordinated law enforcement effort in which federal officers work with state and local officials in places where violent crime has risen amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Attorney General William Barr approved the deployment of more than 100 federal agents from DOJ’s FBI, U.S. Marshals Service, Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to the streets of Chicago, where violent crime has increased 51% compared to the same period last year, according to DOJ statistics.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot pointed out earlier this week that Trump was threatening to send in federal resources in cities with female mayors. She was among 15 mayors who urged Trump not to send federal police into their cities, but after a phone call with Trump midweek, she was supportive. Cuccinelli said Trump’s “tough” rhetoric was the result of wanting to help the country, not overstep elected leaders.
“He is tough, but he cares about the American people, and he cares about every community in this country. And that’s why he’s advancing federal officers and looking for partners, whether they’re his political allies or not,” said Cuccinelli. “Mayor Lightfoot in Chicago is surely not a Trump political ally, but he is willing to extend the olive branch and the support of federal resources to help them bring peace there.”
Author: Anna Giaritelli
Source: Washington Examiner: Cuccinelli: Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot ‘turned 180 degrees’ on working with Trump
