Washington: The decision of US President Donald Trump to deploy federal officials in cities led by Democrats today provokes criticism from local authorities and those who consider it a political trick towards the November elections.
Despite opposition expressed in advance by officials from some of the country’s main cities, the head of the White House said yesterday that he will send hundreds of federal agents to face an increase in violence in cities such as Albuquerque, Chicago, Kansas City and others to be announced.
Trump, who tries to present himself as the president of law and order for the upcoming elections, in which he will seek reelection, blamed local liberal politicians for the levels of crime and criticized those who ask to remove funds from the police.
The latter is a lawsuit by many of the participants in the protests unleashed in the country against racism and police brutality after the death of African-American George Floyd at the hands of law enforcement on May 25 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
While dispatching federal forces to help localities fight crime problems is not uncommon, the political nature of this deployment is currently of concern, especially after agents stationed in Portland, Oregon, arrested participants in protests against the racism.
Officials from the Department of Homeland Security were sent to that city on the grounds of protecting federal buildings and monuments, but local authorities complained that these forces exacerbated tensions in the streets by arresting demonstrators without probable cause and moving them in unidentified cars.
Officials of Albuquerque, New Mexico said they had not applied for federal assistance and expressed fear of suffering the same fate as Portland.
“There is no place for Trump’s secret police in our city,” Albuquerque Mayor Timothy Keller said, adding that if this were not just a political stunt, the Republican administration would support constitutional crime-fighting efforts that they work for the community.
For her part, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said the city will receive the kind of federal resources it has worked with in the past to help combat violent crime, but added that it will not allow a Portland-style deployment to confront protesters.
In a press conference following Trump’s announcement Wednesday, Lightfoot accused the president of trying to divert attention from her failed leadership against the Covid-19 pandemic.
She also called the measure of the Republican president a political trick and argued that the federal government could offer more effective aid if it addressed the issue of gun control.