White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany Thursday called on Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot to "admit" she needs federal resources to help control violence in her community, while the mayor continues to stand firm that she will not allow the president's "unnamed federal agents" to patrol Chicago's streets.
"We have seen a 50% increase in homicides in Chicago and 400 people have lost their lives," McEnany said on Fox News' "America's Newsroom." "She should admit she needs the help of the federal government."
McEnany said that on Wednesday, she met the mother of LeGend Taliferro, the 4-year-old who was shot and killed in Kansas City, Missouri, who is the namesake for Operation Legend, the move to surge federal law enforcement officers in the nation's more violent communities. She said the resources are being sent to keep other children from dying in the streets of Chicago and other major cities.
Trump said Wednesday he will deploy 100 federal agents to Chicago. Thursday morning, on MSNBC, Lightfoot said she does not want the situation in Portland, Oregon, where the arrival of officers has led to accusations that they cause more violence, to repeat itself in her city.
Lightfoot has accepted additional FBI, DEA, and ATF agents to come to her city to augment and assist local police efforts to control the violence, but the "critical difference" is that the agents will be managed by "the U.S. Attorney here in Chicago who I know and trust."
"We’re not going to have unnamed federal agents patrolling our streets, pretending to be police, sweeping people off, and denying them of their constitutional rights," she told "Morning Joe" co-host Willie Geist.
She also called on the federal government to help stop the flow of guns from coming across state lines into Chicago.
"That is something that the federal government is uniquely qualified to do and they've abdicated their responsibility," she said. "We need that now. Gun trafficking across state lines is real. It's showing up in Chicago."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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