Duckworth on "Face the Nation:" federalizing and deploying Illinois National Guard members is a "misuse"
On CBS News' "Face the Nation" Sunday, U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Illinois) said federalizing and deploying hundreds of Illinois National Guard members amid clashes between protesters and federal agents amounts to "a misuse of the National Guard."
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said in a statement on Saturday that the Trump administration intends to federalize 300 Illinois National Guard members after he was offered an ultimatum on troop deployment.
"This morning, the Trump Administration's Department of War gave me an ultimatum: call up your troops, or we will," he said. "It is absolutely outrageous and un-American to demand a Governor send military troops within our own borders and against our will."
The White House later confirmed the plans.
"Amidst ongoing violent riots and lawlessness, that local leaders like Pritzker have refused to step in to quell, President Trump has authorized 300 national guardsmen to protect federal officers and assets," Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman, told CBS News in a statement. "President Trump will not turn a blind eye to the lawlessness plaguing American cities."
Duckworth told "Face the Nation" moderator Margaret Brennan that the National Guard members will be welcomed, as "they'll be homegrown Illinoisans, and they're our brothers and sisters, our neighbors."
However, she said, the National Guard troops are "not needed in this particular role."
It's a misuse of the National Guard," she said.
This latest development comes amid clashes between protesters and federal agents in Broadview, Illinois, where, within the past couple of weeks, over a dozen protesters were arrested, including seven on Friday.
Authorities also said a woman was shot by a federal agent on Saturday in Chicago's Brighton Park neighborhood after agents' cars were boxed in. The Department of Homeland Security said the woman was armed.
Duckworth said federal agents have been aggressors, and accused the Trump administration of lying about the situation on the ground.
"And, in fact, [agents] even shot tear grenades — tear gas grenades, I think, at a reporter who was simply driving by with her window open," Duckworth said.
A week ago Sunday, CBS News Chicago reporter Asal Rezaei said she had a projectile fired at her vehicle by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent.
In a report filed with Broadview police, Rezaei said she was driving her truck with her driver's side window down, while approaching the 25th Avenue entrance to see if any activity was taking place, before leaving the area.
At that point, Rezaei said a masked ICE agent, who saw her window down, shot a pepper ball about 50 feet from the inside of the fence, hitting her truck's driver's side panel and causing the chemical agents to engulf the inside of her truck.
"And so, we're urging people, we're urging our protesters, remain calm, peaceful protests, exercise the First Amendment rights. But videotape everything. Everybody has a phone; tape everything, so we actually have real evidence of what is happening," said Duckworth. "We know the Trump administration lies consistently. And what I am hearing is that, for the large part, people are being very quiet, are being very respectful. But ICE is being very aggressive."
Duckworth also referenced an incident last week where federal agents detained 37 people in an immigration raid in Chicago's South Shore neighborhood, and the Department of Homeland Security claims it was targeting members of an infamous Venezuelan gang. The incident happened in the early hours this past Tuesday morning.
Cellphone video captured by a neighbor shows agents leading people in zip ties to a school parking lot near 75th and South Shore around 1 a.m. Tuesday. Women and children were among those detained, at least briefly.
This weekend, a federal judge in Oregon issued a temporary restraining order preventing the Trump administration from sending the National Guard to Portland after the president said he would send troops to that city to handle "domestic terrorists."
Duckworth took issue with claims from the Trump administration about a large and growing movement of left-wing terrorism targeting federal agents.
"it's simply not happening. They are lying. And so, if anybody is targeting anyone, it is out of control ICE agents targeting, again, zip-tying children, throwing reporters onto the ground, separating children from their mothers, trying to convince schools to turn over kids from public schools," Duckworth said. "They are raging through the streets of Chicago, trying to intimidate everyday, ordinary citizens, or just trying to go to school and go to work. That's not acceptable. That's not what America is about."
