State Military Forces Now Protecting Government Property in Chicago Area, Authority Says

Greetings and welcome to the latest updates in American political affairs. We begin with the report that a small number of state military forces has started protecting government facilities in the Chicago area and assisting law enforcement in Memphis on Wednesday, according to officials.

Troop Information

An element of 200 Texas Guard troops were operating in the Chicago area, according to a spokesperson for the US Northern Command, who spoke to the Associated Press on background basis in order to discuss mission specifics that have not been made public.

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

The forces, along with about 300 from Illinois, had reached on Tuesday at a US Army Reserve Center in Elwood, approximately 90 kilometers southwest of Chicago. All 500 troops are under the military command and have been activated for two months. The spokesperson wasn't able to quickly provide information about how the personnel were equipped.

Political Context

It comes as Donald Trump on Wednesday called for the imprisonment of Brandon Johnson, Chicago's mayor, and JB Pritzker, the Illinois governor, charging them of not protecting US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel.

"The city's mayor should be in jail for not protecting ICE personnel!" Trump posted on Truth Social on Wednesday morning. "The state governor also!"

Both the mayor and governor are Democrats. Trump's remarks come as national guard troops have started deployment in the Greater Chicago region at the order of the Trump administration, despite opposition from Illinois officials, including the governor and mayor.

Additional Developments

• Donald Trump announced that the conflicting parties have accepted a tentative deal to end the fighting in Gaza, and free Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners.
• Reports about the Middle East deal was applauded by GOP legislators, who urged Trump to be awarded the Nobel Peace prize 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, the secretary gave a wildly inaccurate explanation of the core legal principle that mandates that the authorities provide a public reason for detaining and imprisoning people.
• All of the witnesses who contributed testimony at the White House "antifa roundtable" hosted by the president on Wednesday were identified as freelance reporters who might more accurately described as partisan conservative social media influencers. The content producers cover leftwing protests in a highly political manner, more similar to opposition research than nonpartisan reporting.
• GOP senators rejected a military authorization measure that would have checked Trump's ability to use lethal armed action against suspected drug smugglers after opposition party tried to counter the government's unprecedented deployment of the military to destroy boats in the Caribbean.
• During the White House "political discussion" on Wednesday, at least a participant echoed Trump's false claim that significant amounts of people have been killed by left-wing radicals in Portland, Oregon. The accurate count of killings by self-described "antifa" radicals in Portland is: a single incident.