Federal Agents Headed to Chicago, Elsewhere in Attempt to Reduce Violent Crime - The Wall Street Journal

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Federal officers outside a U.S. courthouse in Portland, Ore., on Tuesday.
Photo: Noah Berger/Associated Press

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Updated July 21, 2020 3:33 pm ET

The Trump administration plans to send federal law enforcement to Chicago as part of an effort to crack down on gun crime, as leaders in several Democratic-controlled cities worried about the presence of federal agents on their streets following confrontations with demonstrators in Portland, Ore.

Law-enforcement officials familiar with the plan said more than 100 federal agents will focus on illegal gun sales, arrests of fugitives and bringing federal gun prosecutions in the city that has seen 385 murders this year as of mid-July, a 48% increase from the same time last year.

The move is a part of a broader Justice Department initiative to send a surge of federal resources into cities experiencing spikes in crime.

But its timing coincides with President Trump’s threats to deploy federal agents to Chicago and other cities run by Democrats and experiencing civil unrest, raising alarm among governors and other local leaders who criticized the plan as an attempt to shore up his base as Mr. Trump trails in national polls to presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. Mr. Trump has made law-and-order a focal point of his re-election campaign.

As agents dressed in military-style gear remained in Portland, where they were sent in response to weeks of sometimes violent demonstrations sparked by the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Mr. Trump said he would be taking similar action in Detroit, Philadelphia and other cities where he has clashed with Democratic leaders on a number of policy issues.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper has relayed concerns about federal officers dressing in camouflage and wearing other gear similar to that of military service members, saying it should be clear to the American public that the officers aren’t members of the military, Pentagon press secretary Jonathan Hoffman said Tuesday.

“The secretary has expressed a concern of this within the administration, that we want a system where people can tell the difference,” Mr. Hoffman told reporters.

Press secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Tuesday promoted the efforts in Portland and accused Democrats of putting “politics above peace while this president seeks to restore law and order.”

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer decried any deployment of federal-law enforcement meant to quell protesters.

“There is no reason for the president to send federal troops into a city where people are demanding change peacefully and respectfully,” Ms. Whitmer said.

Hundreds of Black Lives Matter protesters rallied in the streets on Monday in Portland, Ore.... — Hundreds of Black Lives Matter protesters rallied in the streets on Monday in Portland, Ore.
Photo: Noah Berger/Associated Press

In Chicago, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she spoke with the mayor of Portland on Sunday to “get a sense of what happened there.”

“We don’t need federal agents without insignia taking people off the street and holding them, I think, unlawfully,” said Ms. Lightfoot, who answered questions about the possible presence of federal agents in the city during a Monday press conference on another matter.

Homeland Security Investigations agents were also being sent to Chicago to “support other law enforcement,” a Homeland Security official confirmed without elaborating on their role. That struck some current and former DHS officials as an unusual use of resources, as HSI agents primarily investigate issues like drug crimes, money laundering and human trafficking rather than local street crime or crowd control.

Most of the time, federal authorities tend to leave public-safety issues to state and local governments as part of the separation of powers that gives certain responsibilities to states and others to the federal government. But federal agents have the authority to protect federal interests and federal property and to enforce federal law even over the objection of local or state leaders. In addition, many states have passed laws giving federal agents the authority to enforce state law within their borders in some circumstances.

The Justice Department’s crime-fighting program, for example, seeks to prosecute gun crimes federally, rather than at the state level, where they can pursue longer sentences.