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Pritzker says Trump's 'thuggery' has made Chicago less safe

admin - Latest News - October 6, 2025
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Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said the actions taken by ICE and other federal agents deployed to Chicago by President Trump have made citizens less safe. Illinois has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration seeking to stop the deployment of National Guard troops to the state.



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Oct. 6, 2025, 4:34 PM EDT / Updated Oct. 6, 2025, 5:38 PM EDTBy Natasha Korecki and Daniella SilvaCHICAGO — Clashes between protesters and federal agents over immigration enforcement escalated this weekend, capping several weeks of tension over President Donald Trump’s vow to send federalized National Guard troops to the streets of Chicago. Skirmishes outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview led the mayor to announce Monday that she was limiting demonstrations to certain hours.The announcement, which was provided first to NBC News, comes after multiple clashes around an ICE processing facility in Broadview, where federal agents fired pepper balls and tear gas and used physical force, including slamming people to the ground, as protesters have tried to block vehicles from entering and leaving the facility. Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson issued an order designating protest hours of 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily “in response to escalating disruptions and public safety concerns.”Tensions have grown in Chicago and the surrounding area after President Donald Trump launched Operation Midway Blitz, massively increasing immigration enforcement in the area. The operation has so far led to 900 arrests, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Demonstrations opposing the deployment of federal troops have taken place in downtown Chicago.Jacek Boczarski / Anadolu via Getty ImagesThompson said in a statement that the order sought to balance the constitutional rights of protesters and “the needs and safety of Broadview’s residents and businesses.”“People have to go to work, they have to get their children ready for school, our businesses have to serve their customers, and our residents with developmental disabilities, who have sensory issues, have suffered emotional meltdowns because of the chaotic environment when protests get disruptive,” she said in the statement.She said some demonstrators have escalated into unsafe situations, including over the weekend, when there was a “very aggressive crowd of protesters and the situation got out of control” as demonstrators tried to take over Interstate 290.“I have repeatedly said that I intend to defend the protesters’ constitutionally protected free speech rights. I support their cause,” she said. “But the repeated clashes with ICE agents in our town are causing enormous disruptions in the quality of life for my residents whose rights I have taken an oath to protect. We live here. Our residents live here and deserve dignity and respect.”ICE said in a statement that the Broadview Processing Center “continues to face violence and unlawful activity by rioters. The relentless actions of these individuals — and their attempts to obstruct the enforcement of federal law — are unacceptable.”The agency said “local inaction” by officials “has enabled agitators to escalate violence and placed federal officers, first responders, and Broadview residents in harm’s way.”Trump has also been threatening to deploy the National Guard to Chicago for months, giving the greenlight to do so over the weekend, as state and local officials have fought back against his efforts.Earlier Monday, the state of Illinois and the city of Chicago sued to block the Trump administration from deploying federalized National Guard troops on the streets of Chicago.“The American people, regardless of where they reside, should not live under the threat of occupation by the United States military, particularly not simply because their city or state leadership has fallen out of a president’s favor,” the Illinois Attorney General’s Office wrote in the filing, which names President Donald Trump, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll as defendants.Representatives for the Justice Department, the Army and the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Defense Department declined to comment.Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat, said at a news conference later Monday that Trump’s plans to send in the National Guard were an “unconstitutional invasion of Illinois by the federal government.”“Peaceful protesters have been hit with tear gas and shot with rubber bullets; journalists simply reporting the facts on the ground have been targeted and arrested; U.S. citizens, including children, have been traumatized and detained,” he said.Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has repeatedly pushed back against Trump’s intention of sending National Guard troops to Chicago.Kamil Krzaczynski / AFP – Getty ImagesHe said the “escalation of violence is targeted and intentional and premeditated. The Trump administration is following a playbook. Cause chaos, create fear and confusion, make it seem like peaceful protesters are a mob by firing gas pellets and tear gas canisters at them.”Pritzker said Trump wanted to “justify and normalize the presence of armed soldiers under his direct command.”The White House maintained Trump’s actions are lawful.“Amidst ongoing violent riots and lawlessness, that local leaders like Pritzker have refused to step in to quell, President Trump has exercised his lawful authority to protect federal officers and assets. President Trump will not turn a blind eye to the lawlessness plaguing American cities,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement.Citing crime issues, Trump has also threatened to send the National Guard into other prominent Democratic-run cities, including New York, Baltimore and New Orleans. The rate of serious crimes has dropped dramatically in Chicago and the other cities Trump had targeted in recent years. Statistics from the Chicago Police Department show the murder rate through the end of September is down 29% compared with the same period last year. Overall crime is down 13%, according to the police department.Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order Monday called “ICE Free Zone,” which prohibits federal immigration agents from using any city-owned property during its operations in Chicago. “We will not tolerate ICE agents violating our residents’ constitutional rights nor will we allow the federal government to disregard our local authority. ICE agents are detaining elected officials, tear-gassing protestors, children, and Chicago police officers, and abusing Chicago residents. We will not stand for that in our city,” Johnson said in a statement. The White House, in a statement Monday, called Johnson’s order “a disgusting betrayal of every law-abiding citizen.” “Johnson’s pathetic excuse that enforcing our nation’s immigration laws somehow ‘undermines community trust’ exposes his true loyalty: to criminal illegal alien predators, not the terrified families of Chicago,” the statement said. Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement Monday afternoon that Johnson was “demonizing ICE law enforcement” and accused him of not caring about the safety of federal law enforcement officers or Chicagoans. “His reckless policies not only endanger our law enforcement, but public safety,” she said.Natasha KoreckiNatasha Korecki is a senior national political reporter for NBC News.Daniella SilvaDaniella Silva is a national reporter for NBC News, focusing on immigration and education.
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Sept. 29, 2025, 1:52 PM EDTBy Angela YangA comedy festival in the capital of Saudi Arabia has become a cultural flash point as major comedians face criticism for accepting seemingly lucrative deals to perform in a country that was virtually impossible to visit until 2019 and a pariah in much of the West for its human rights record.The Riyadh Comedy Festival, which began Friday and runs through Oct. 9, features a variety of big names such as Dave Chappelle, Kevin Hart, Aziz Ansari, Pete Davidson, Andrew Schulz, Jo Koy, Bill Burr, Jessica Kirson, Jimmy Carr and Louis C.K.These comedians, most of them American, are now encountering resistance from some fans, human rights advocates and fellow comics in the industry.Marc Maron, host of the “WTF” podcast, blasted the festival in a recent stand-up clip, joking that it was easy for him to “take the high road on this one” considering he was not invited to perform.“I mean, how do you even promote that?” Maron said. “Like, ‘From the folks that brought you 9/11, two weeks of laughter in the desert. Don’t miss it.’ I mean, the same guy that’s gonna pay them is the same guy that paid that guy to bone-saw Jamal Khashoggi and put him in a f—ing suitcase.”The Saudi Embassy in Washington, D.C., declined to comment. Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, which announced the festival in July, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.“The festival is the largest of its kind globally, bringing together a selection of award-winning comedy stars known for their outstanding performances on international stages and streaming platforms,” the Saudi Press Agency wrote in its announcement for the General Entertainment Authority. “It reflects the efforts to amplify Riyadh’s status as a leading destination for major cultural and artistic events.”Saudi Arabia, the oil-rich home of Islam’s two holiest sites, was for years among the most socially conservative nations on Earth with a morality police enforcing a strict interpretation of Shariah. In recent years under the rule of de facto leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the country expanded its cultural and political influence by diversifying its economy and investing in sports, entertainment and tourism to improve its global image. Along with this, the crown prince oversaw a sweeping crackdown on dissent — imprisoning disgruntled royals, women’s rights advocates, and reforming clerics as well as adherents to previously government-sanctioned proponents of strict Wahhabi Islam.Celebrities and influencers have often been criticized for performing in the country or participating in tourism campaigns, and FIFA drew condemnation last year for selecting Saudi Arabia to host the 2034 World Cup.Shane Gillis, who said he was offered an invite, claimed that the organizers “doubled the bag,” or the amount of money offered, after he declined to participate.“It was a significant bag, but I’d already said no,” Gillis said on his podcast. “I took a principled stand.”On TikTok and Instagram, verified accounts that appeared to belong to Turki Al-Sheikh, a royal court adviser who has emerged as a powerful figure in sports and entertainment as part of Saudi Arabia’s push into the global culture industry, posted videos of Chappelle and Hart.In a news release last week, Human Rights Watch wrote that the Saudi government is using the festival “to deflect attention from its brutal repression of free speech and other pervasive human rights violations” and called on the performers “to publicly urge Saudi authorities to free unjustly detained Saudi dissidents, journalists, and human rights activists.”The nonprofit watchdog organization noted that some of the events land on the seventh anniversary of the assassination of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul by intelligence operatives with close ties to the crown prince. The festival also takes place just months after Saudi authorities executed Turki al-Jasser, a journalist known for exposing corruption within the Saudi royal family.“The seventh anniversary of Jamal Khashoggi’s brutal murder is no laughing matter,” Joey Shea, Saudi Arabia researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. “And comedians receiving hefty sums from Saudi authorities shouldn’t be silent on prohibited topics in Saudi like human rights or free speech.”Other listed performers for the festival include: Sebastian Maniscalco, Maz Jobrani, Tom Segura, Whitney Cummings, Jimeoin, Russell Peters, Andrew Santino, Bobby Lee, Chris Distefano, Mark Normand, Gabriel Iglesias, Hannibal Buress, Sam Morril, Jeff Ross, Omid Djalili, Ali Siddiq, Zarna Garg, Chris Tucker and Ben Hart.These performers did not respond to requests for comment.The Saudi government has been censured by dozens of countries, and in 2024 it was denied a second attempt at scoring a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council. In the U.S., relatives of victims of the Sept. 11 terror attacks have accused the Saudi government of having potential ties to the attack. (A direct link has not been proven.)But it has also made significant inroads with some powerful figures in the West, most notably the Trump family. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner worked with the Saudis to secure a $2 billion investment in his firm and recently partnered with the country’s public investment fund to strike a $55 billion deal to take the video game giant Electronic Arts private. Trump has maintained a close relationship with the crown prince throughout the Saudi royal’s fraught tenure. View this post on Instagram A post shared by TURKI ALALSHIKH تركي آل الشيخ (@turki) The festival and subsequent fallout has also provided a rare window into these events and, in particular, the money and self-censorship often involved.One comedian, Atsuko Okatsuka, posted screenshots to Threads of what she said was her invite to the festival, including a section on “Content Restrictions” that prohibited the artists from performing material that “may be considered to degrade, defame, or bring into public disrepute, contempt, scandal, embarrassment, or ridicule” the country, its royal family or any religion.“A lot of the ‘you can’t say anything anymore!’ Comedians are doing the festival 😂” Okatsuka wrote. “they had to adhere to censorship rules about the types of jokes they can make.”Mike Birbiglia and Leslie Liao were among the comics who responded to her post, sharing that they had rejected the offer as well.Stavros Halkias similarly revealed in a podcast episode with Distefano, who did agree to perform, that he didn’t take the deal. Distefano told Halkias that while he “didn’t want to do it either,” his fiancée had ultimately urged him to “take that f—ing money.”At least one comedian, however, appears to have changed his mind despite initially agreeing to perform. Nimesh Patel, who was slated to get on stage Sunday, posted a TikTok video over the weekend sharing that he recently canceled his appearance after “having a change of heart.” That video has since become unavailable.“I’ll just do 40 shows that I had not planned on doing here in the perfectly clean, moral, above-everyone-else, United States of America — I’m tired just thinking about it — to make up for the lost bag,” Patel said.Meanwhile, comedian and podcaster Tim Dillon said in an episode of his podcast that he was dropped from the festival for making a joke about the country “having slaves.”“I’m gonna get fired again from people that are not even Saudis. I’m gonna get fired by people who don’t chop hands off. I’m gonna get fired by reasonable people. I’m gonna get fired by people that don’t practice Shariah law,” Dillon said. “This is the most controversial the people who fire me will ever be. Let me relish in this. Let’s take this win.”The Saudi Embassy did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation about the cancellation of Patel’s and Dillon’s shows.Angela YangAngela Yang is a culture and trends reporter for NBC News.Natasha Lebedeva contributed.
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