‘Get your cell phones out’: Pritzker urges public to post footage of federal agents
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) on Tuesday urged residents to document local interactions with federal agents after the governor said President Trump plans to deploy 100 National Guard soldiers to the state.
“People of Illinois, we need your help. Get your cell phones out — record what you see," Pritzker wrote in a post on social platform X. "Put it on social media."
“Peacefully ask for badge numbers and identification. Speak up for your neighbors," he continued. "We need to let the world know this is happening — and that we won’t stand for it."
Pritzker has been a vocal critic of the Trump administration's show of force in Democratic-led cities, including Chicago — which the president described as a "hell hole" — and Washington, D.C.
“Chicago’s a mess. You have an incompetent mayor. Grossly incompetent and we’ll straighten that one out probably next," Trump said last month, amid the federal takeover of law enforcement in the nation's capital. "That will be our next one after this. And it won’t even be tough."
Over the weekend, Pritzker said federal agents were spotted in Millenium Park by “The Bean,” a popular tourist attraction in the Windy City. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials were also seen targeting construction workers near the Tribune Tower and along Michigan Avenue, per the governor.
“Donald Trump and Kristi Noem and Tom Homan said they were targeting the worst of the worst criminals. They lied and they continue to lie," he told reporters during a Monday press conference. "Sixty percent of the individuals that ICE has taken in Illinois this year have no criminal convictions of any kind."
“ICE is running around the Loop harassing people for not being white," Pritzker continued. "Just a year ago, that was illegal in the United States. Now, ICE is making it commonplace.”
He added, “That’s not making America great.”
His comments come as demonstrations have broken out in the Prairie State in protest of Trump's immigration agenda and the increased presence of federal law enforcement.