Why Chicago turned into a 'war zone' and which US city is next

According to the Trump administration, Chicago is now a ‘war zone’. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has made the claim after federal agents shot and wounded a woman over the weekend.

The development comes as US President Donald Trump steps up efforts to deploy the National Guard in Democratic cities across America – which citizens and some local authorities have protested against.

Trump’s move to send federal troops to Chicago comes just after he sent the National Guard to Washington to ‘crack down’ on crime. He has also deployed federal troops in Los Angeles, California, and Memphis, Tennessee.

Trump has also mused about deploying the US military in Democratic-run cities.

But what happened? And which US city is next?

Let’s take a closer look.

What happened?

Trump, over the weekend, sent around 300 federal troops to Chicago, the country’s third-largest city and hometown of his predecessor Barack Obama. The development comes as the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducts an immigration crackdown in the ‘Windy City’ – which thousands of people have taken to the streets to protest.

On Saturday, US Customs and Border Patrol agents opened fire on a woman and wounded her. Noem claimed that the agents acted in self-defence and the woman, identified as Marimar Martinez, had a semi-automatic weapon. Noem claimed that a convoy of vehicles had followed the agents through the streets of Chicago and rammed into them.

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“They had followed them and gotten them cornered, pinned them down and then our agents, when getting out of their cars, they tried to run them over and had semi-automatic handguns on them to where our agents had to protect themselves and shots were fired and an individual ended up in the hospital that was attacking these officers,” Noem said in a statement.

Martinez was taken to a hospital and then released – after which she was taken into custody by the FBI. Another individual, allegedly driving a vehicle in the convoy, was identified as Anthony Ian Ruiz. He too has been taken into custody.

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The Department of Homeland Security claimed that Martinez had been involved in the doxxing of other agents. They also referred to Martinez and the other protesters as ‘domestic terrorists’.

"The scene became increasingly violent as more domestic terrorists gathered and began throwing smoke, gas, rocks, and bottles at DHS law enforcement," the DHS alleged in its statement. Noem claimed Martinez told the agents “they all needed to go down.”

The developments in the city come amid fierce opposition from citizens and local groups. Immigrants’ rights advocates and residents have claimed that federal agents used tear gas near grocery or hardware stores they had targeted for enforcement.

‘ICE acts with impunity’

Jonny Bishop, a 28-year-old former teacher from Palatine, Illinois, and from a Mexican immigrant family, said the cooperation concerned him. There was also outrage about the local police cooperating with the federal authorities.

“ICE acts with impunity,” said Bishop, who’s previously encountered tear gas and pepper balls. “They know that they can shoot at us. They can tear gas us. And Broadview Police Department is not going to do anything.”

In a Chicago neighbourhood, Andrew Denton, 39, stopped at a grocery store for lunch and heard honking from an SUV stopped behind a motorcycle parked in the middle of the street. He realised ICE agents were in the SUV and started shooting video just before the agents threw canisters of gas near passers-by.

“There was no reason to use tear gas on the crowd,” he said. “No one was threatening them in any way.” Denton said he immediately began tearing up. His nose began running, and he felt like he was choking. He said the 20 or so people in the area included seniors, families with children and children outside at recess at an adjacent elementary school.

Federal agents also detained a city council member as she questioned the attempted arrest of a man. Chicago Alderperson Jessie Fuentes shared video appearing to show her being handcuffed as she confronted federal agents at a hospital. She said a resident had fallen and broken his leg while being chased by ICE agents who then transported him to the emergency room.

Democrats are hitting back at the Trump administration. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker called for an investigation into an immigration raid on the city’s South Side early Tuesday morning. Pritzker, over the weekend, blamed the Trump administration for inflaming tensions in the city.

“They are the ones who are making it a war zone,” Pritzker said. “They need to get out of Chicago. If they’re not going to focus on the worst of the worst, which is what the president said they are going to do, they need to get the heck out.”

Pritzker said Noem “doesn’t know what she’s talking about.”

“People are booing her on the street,” Pritzker added. “[ICE is] raiding neighbourhoods where instead of going after the bad guys, they’re just picking up people who are brown and Black, then checking their credentials… I don’t know about you, but I don’t carry around papers that say I’m a US citizen.”

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has been a vocal critic of the Trump administration’s ICE raids and deployment of the National Guard in Illinois, calling it “unhinged and unhealthy”.

Which US city is next?

Noem said she has already requested the ‘Department of War’ – the Department of Defence – to send troops to Portland. This comes as a federal judge in Oregon, appointed by Trump during his first term, temporarily halted his administration from deploying the National Guard in Portland.

US District Judge Karin Immergut wrote that the relatively small protests the city has seen did not justify the use of federalised forces and allowing the deployment could harm Oregon’s state sovereignty.

“This country has a longstanding and foundational tradition of resistance to government overreach, especially in the form of military intrusion into civil affairs,” Immergut wrote. She later continued, “This historical tradition boils down to a simple proposition: this is a nation of constitutional law, not martial law.”

“Defendants have made a range of arguments that, if accepted, risk blurring the line between civil and military federal power — to the detriment of this nation,” Immergut added. She said Trump’s own claims were not “conceived in good faith” and were “simply untethered to the facts.”

Immergut on Sunday accused the administration of circumventing her order after Trump attempted to send National Guard troops from California and Texas to Chicago and other US cities. Immergut, during an emergency hearing, widened her restraining order to cover “the relocation, federalisation or deployment of members of the National Guard of any state or the District of Columbia in the state of Oregon.”

Immergut informed lawyers from the Justice Department that Trump was “in direct contravention” of her order. The Trump administration on Saturday had taken Immergut’s decision to the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals.

California Governor Gavin Newsom had vowed to sue Trump over the deployment of National Guard troops from California to Oregon. After Immergut passed her order, Newsom issued a statement that read, “The rule of law has prevailed – and California’s National Guard will soon be heading home. This ruling is more than a legal victory, it’s a victory for American democracy itself. Donald Trump tried to turn our soldiers into instruments of his political will. While our fight continues, tonight the rule of law said ‘hell no’.”

It remains to be seen whether the showdown between the courts and the executive branch results in some sort of constitutional crisis if Trump refuses to obey the law and the judges’ verdicts.

With inputs from agencies.