Trump Calls for Arrest of Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson in Truth Social Post
- Marielle Bokor
- Oct 8
- 3 min read
The ongoing feud between the sitting president, the Chicagoland area and State of Illinois continues to escalate. Operation Midway Blitz has been underway for a month and has involved US Immigration and Customers Enforcement (ICE) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as well as several other federal agencies.
In this past month, we've seen agents deploying tear gas in several Chicago neighborhoods, violently handcuffing a city alderman, arresting journalists, as well as having heavily armed agents rappelling from Blackhawks into a South Shore neighborhood to conduct a raid on an apartment building where numerous US citizens, including at least four children, were detained.
Trump has now also announced that he will deploy the Illinois National Guard against its commander in chief's wishes, also deploying members of the Texas National Guard, to 'protect' agents from the city he also frequently refers to as a "war zone." IL Governor Pritzker has been an outspoken opponent of Trump and these actions, and has worked with Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson to block the moves with a federal lawsuit.
Mayor Brandon Johnson has also recently signed an executive order to establish "ICE Free Zones" which prohibit use of city property for federal immigration operations, according to an official press release on chicago.gov.
“We will not tolerate ICE agents violating our residents’ constitutional rights nor will we allow the federal government to disregard our local authority. ICE agents are detaining elected officials, tear-gassing protestors, children, and Chicago police officers, and abusing Chicago residents. We will not stand for that in our city,” said Mayor Brandon Johnson. “With this Executive Order, Chicago stands firm in protecting the Constitutional rights of our residents and immigrant communities and upholding our democracy.”
The city's resistance to this illegal invasion appears to only be inciting the wrath of Donald Trump, who again took to social media to rant about imprisoning both Pritzker and Johnson:
"Chicago Mayor should be in jail for failing to protect Ice [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] Officers!"
"Governor Pritzker also!"
This is not the first time Trump has tried to have a Black man unjustly arrested,” Mayor Johnson posted on social media. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Pritzker also responded in his own series of social posts on "X" stating "I will not back down. Trump is now calling for the arrest of elected representatives checking his power. What else is left on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?"
In an interview with MSNBC after speaking at a rally at Federal Plaza in Chicago for workers affected by the government shutdown, Pritzker called Trump "unhinged."
"This guy is unhinged. He's insecure," said Pritkzer. "He's a wannabe dictator. And there's one thing I really want to say to Donald Trump. If you come for my people, you come through me. So come and get me."
BREAKING: The Chicago Teacher's Union has Denounced Trump's Targeting of Chicago's Mayor in an official statement that follows:
CTU Denounces President Trump’s Targeting of Chicago’s Mayor: Chicago Will Continue its Proud Tradition of Protecting City Residents and their Liberty in the Face of Troops
Call for Johnson’s Arrest is Latest Sign Trump is Waging War on Successful Black Political Power, Using Government for Personal Agenda, Unfit for Office
Chicago, IL. In response to Donald Trump calling for the arrest of Brandon Johnson, Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates cited the city’s 1850 council resolution calling on local police to not aid and abet fugitive slave patrols, and denounced Trump’s targeting, claiming it is making everyone less safe.
“A hundred and seventy five years after Chicago passed resolutions refusing to aid and abet fugitive slave patrols, we have a mayor who is taking every step to once again protect Chicagoans from lawless capture and we have a sitting President who is attacking him for it. Sen. Stephen Douglas denounced Chicago for refusing to support the agents deployed to take away Chicagoans’ liberties and Trump is doing the same today.
Our democratically-elected mayor is making our city safer by keeping a bright line between local government and the lawless invasion of our city being carried out at the order of the President. He should be celebrated and protected for it.
More to come on the situation unfolding in Chicago as it happens