President Donald Trump mentioned Tuesday that violent crime in Chicago has fallen sharply because the begin of a federal crackdown generally known as “Operation Halfway Blitz,” crediting the Division of Homeland Safety-led effort with driving shootings and robberies down throughout the Windy Metropolis.
The president’s Reality Social put up claimed that shootings are down 35%, robberies down 41% and carjackings practically 50% because the operation started a number of weeks in the past.
“This has been achieved regardless of the extraordinary resistance from Chicago and Illinois Radical Democrat management,” Trump wrote.
The put up marks the president’s first public replace on the initiative since late October, when DHS confirmed 9 arrests, together with three unlawful immigrants, following what officers described as “one of the crucial violent days” of the operation.
Based on DHS statements obtained by Fox Information Digital, brokers confronted a number of assaults and automobile rammings throughout coordinated Oct. 22 raids within the Chicago suburbs of Cicero and Glendale Heights.
DHS assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin referred to as it “one of the crucial violent days we’ve had,” confirming that one agent was injured and several other patrol models had been broken.
The raids focused violent offenders and beforehand deported international nationals with prison information.
The operation’s namesake honors Katie Abraham, a Chicago-area resident killed in September in a hit-and-run involving a suspected unlawful immigrant.
“Halfway Blitz,” launched in September, is a part of a broader DHS initiative aimed toward “prison unlawful aliens terrorizing People in sanctuary Illinois,” in response to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, who mentioned suspects who attacked brokers “might be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the regulation.”
Trump’s put up additionally reignited tensions with Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, each of whom have beforehand opposed large-scale immigration raids.
The president accused them of obstructing enforcement and “encouraging violent resistance towards ICE officers.”
Trump mentioned the subsequent part of “Halfway Blitz” will embrace a “full surge” of federal brokers in Chicago and Memphis, claiming the primary wave has already delivered measurable outcomes.
“As we ramp up extra belongings, these numbers will proceed to drop,” he wrote Tuesday.
The Illinois governor’s workplace and the Chicago mayor’s workplace didn’t instantly reply to Fox Information Digital’s requests for remark.
The White Home directed Fox Information Digital again to the President’s feedback on Reality Social.
Fox Information Digital’s Rachel Wolf contributed to this report.
