🔗 Share this article

Greetings and welcome to the current updates in American political affairs. We start with the report that a limited contingent of state military forces has begun guarding government facilities in the Chicago area and supporting police operations in Memphis on Wednesday, as confirmed by authorities.

Deployment Details

An element of two hundred Texas military personnel were working in the Chicago area, according to a spokesperson for the US Northern Command, who communicated with the Associated Press on condition of anonymity in order to reveal mission specifics that have not been officially released.

The military personnel are in the urban area to protect US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities and other federal facilities and police officers, Northern Command said online.

The forces, along with about three hundred Illinois personnel, had reached on Tuesday at a US Army Reserve Center in Elwood, approximately 90 kilometers southwest of Chicago. All 500 troops are under the Northern Command and have been activated for 60 days. The spokesperson wasn't able to immediately offer details about how the troops were armed.

Background Situation

It coincides with Donald Trump on Wednesday called for the jailing of Brandon Johnson, Chicago's mayor, and JB Pritzker, the state governor, charging them of not protecting US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers.

"The city's mayor should be in jail for not protecting ICE personnel!" Trump posted on his social media platform on Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker also!"

Both Johnson and Pritzker are members of the Democratic party. Trump's comments come as national guard troops have started deployment in the Chicago area at the order of the federal administration, despite objections from Illinois officials, including the governor and mayor.

Other Updates

• Donald Trump announced that the conflicting parties have accepted a provisional agreement to cease hostilities in Gaza, and release captured individuals and Palestinian prisoners.
• News of the Gaza agreement was praised by GOP legislators, who urged Trump to be awarded the peace award this week, but received with greater caution by Palestinian Americans.
• During White House event, Trump appeared not to recognize the term 'Habeas Corpus' and referred to Kristi Noem. In May, Noem gave a highly incorrect explanation of the core legal principle that requires that the authorities provide a public reason for detaining and imprisoning people.
• All of the participants who provided statements at the White House "antifa roundtable" organized by the administration on Wednesday were self-described independent journalists who might more accurately described as partisan conservative social media influencers. The content producers report on liberal demonstrations in a partisan fashion, more akin to political investigation than nonpartisan reporting.
• GOP senators voted down a war powers resolution that would have limited Trump's ability to use lethal armed action against alleged narcotics traffickers after opposition party tried to counter the administration's extraordinary use of the armed forces to destroy boats in the Caribbean Sea.
• During the White House "antifa roundtable" on Wednesday, at least a participant repeated Trump's false claim that large numbers of people have been murdered by political extremists in the Oregon city. The correct number of fatal incidents by self-described "antifa" radicals in Portland is: one.