Editor’s note: This piece was submitted to The Daily before a federal judge temporarily blocked troop deployments in the Chicago area Thursday.
Our forefathers told us when to pull the alarm.
In the 17th century, John Locke, whose ideas were fundamental to the creation of our republic, wrote that to be free is “not to be subject to the inconstant, uncertain, unknown, arbitrary will of another man.”
The president of the United States sending National Guard troops to Chicago — while using language of war — exemplifies government by whim rather than law. The president wants to provoke violence in the region, so he does. This is not my idea of freedom.
I should get this out of the way: Chicago could be a safer city. But that’s not why President Donald Trump deployed 500 National Guard members — 300 from Illinois and 200 from Texas — to Chicago this week.
I know this because Trump told us himself. He posted to Truth Social in September that Chicago was “about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR.” The post also featured a likely AI-generated image with references to the Vietnam War movie Apocalypse Now.
On Sept. 30, Trump told several hundred military commanders at Marine Corps Base Quantico that American cities should be “training grounds for our military.” He said that they needed to fight “the war from within.” It would be guerilla warfare, since the opponents “don’t wear uniforms.” A week and a half later, troops from Texas arrived in the Chicago area.
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said that local leaders have “refused to step in to quell” both “violent riots” and “lawlessness.” She did not cite evidence of such violent riots in her statement. She also did not say how the National Guard could specifically combat such lawlessness.
It seems, then, that the main purpose of the soldiers is to goad civilians. Unrest will give the National Guard an excuse to use violence against Chicago residents — in a city that overwhelmingly voted for Kamala Harris last year. As Trump said last month, “I hate my opponent, and I don’t want the best for them.”
This isn’t just my speculation — it’s happening already. This past weekend, a woman named Marimar Martinez, a U.S. citizen, alleged that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents rammed into her vehicle. ICE says that she rammed into them.
In any case, an agent shot her in the street. Afterward, protesters gathered, and federal officers used tear gas against them. “This is Bryant Park! This is not a war zone!” people shouted. In a way, though, it was.
Let this episode serve as a warning. By sending the National Guard, Trump is dousing the city in gasoline. All it will take is one match for it to explode.
Immigration, too, has been a flash point.
Again, I should offer a caveat: I believe in immigration reform. But this week’s military-style raid on a South Side building is not that.
Tuesday morning, a Black Hawk helicopter — yes, that Black Hawk — circled the building. A few hours later, everyone in the building was detained, no matter if they were citizens, tenants said.
A man in the building next door told CNN, “I’ve been on military bases for a good portion of my life… and the activity I saw — it was an invasion.”
Luckily, our elected officials have fought back.Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson issued an executive order to establish “ICE-free zones” in the city, prohibiting immigration agents from using city-owned property. Governor JB Pritzker sued the federal government over what he called an “invasion.”
Because of Pritzker’s and Johnson’s resistance, Trump said they should be jailed. A president calling for the arrest of two sitting politicians for defending their constituents is chilling. If this isn’t a sign of our democracy on shaky ground, I’m not sure what is.
None of this is inevitable. Instead, it’s at the behest of one man.
To inform this column, I read William Galston’s fantastic new book: “Anger, Fear, Domination: Dark Passions and the Power of Political Speech.” He writes that political rhetoric at its best, can promote peace and unity. But at its worst, it can incite resentment and desire for retribution.
The words and actions of President Trump — labeling his opponents as “the enemy” and sending troops from one state to invade another — are inventing a war and dividing the country.
For these reasons, I am thinking about Abraham Lincoln stating that “a house divided against itself cannot stand.”
Our house was standing just fine. But Trump is chipping away at the house’s foundation, day by day. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that a September New York Times poll showed that 64% of Americans think that our country is too politically divided to solve our problems — a dramatic increase over the past few years.
I am part of the minority. I see the man driving the wedge between us as the bad actor, not my fellow citizens with different political ideas.
I’m thankful for leaders like Pritzker and Johnson, who are standing up to tyranny. I’m glad that, as of Wednesday night, people are already protesting in the streets. They know the stakes.
As historian Timothy Snyder writes in “On Tyranny,” “History does not repeat, but it does instruct.” Let these 250 years of our past be our guide toward a long American future.
Talia Winiarsky is a Weinberg senior and author of “Talia’s Take.” She can be contacted at [email protected]. If you would like to respond publicly to this op-ed, send a Letter to the Editor to [email protected]. The views expressed in this piece do not necessarily reflect the views of all staff members of The Daily Northwestern.
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