Texas National Guard troops now protecting federal property in Chicago area, official says

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CHICAGO (AP) — A small number of National Guard troops has started protecting federal property in the Chicago area and assisting law enforcement in Memphis on Wednesday, according to officials.

An “element” of 200 Texas Guard troops were working in the Chicago area, according to a spokesperson for the U.S. Northern Command, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity in order to discuss operational details not been made public. The troops are in the city to protect U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement buildings and other federal facilities and law enforcement personnel, Northern Command said online.

The troops, along with about 300 from Illinois, had arrived Tuesday at a U.S. Army Reserve Center in Elwood, 55 miles (89 kilometers) southwest of Chicago. All 500 troops are under the Northern Command and have been activated for 60 days. The spokesperson wasn’t able to immediately offer details about how the troops were armed.

A lawsuit and Democratic leaders have vigorously fought the deployment, and a hearing is set for Thursday.

In Memphis, a small group of troops were helping Wednesday with the Memphis Safe Task Force, said a state Military Department spokesperson who did not specify the exact role or number of the Guard members. The task force is a collection of about a dozen federal law enforcement agencies ordered by President Donald Trump to fight crime.

Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee, who has welcomed the Guard, has said previously that he would not expect more than 150 Guard members to be sent to the city.

President Donald Trump’s administration has an aggressive immigration enforcement operation in Chicago, the nation’s third-largest city, and protesters have frequently rallied at an ICE building in Broadview.

U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis signaled Wednesday that she planned to restrict federal agents from using certain crowd control tactics, such as tear gas, against peaceful protesters and journalists who have regularly gathered at the Broadview building.

Trump has been emphatic in sending the Guard to Democratic-run cities that he argues have a rampant crime crisis, though statistics don’t always back that up.

Elsewhere, an appeals court has scheduled a hearing the same day over the government’s desire to send the Guard to Portland, Oregon. A judge blocked that effort over the weekend.

The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act limits the military’s role in enforcing domestic laws. However, Trump has said he would be willing to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows a president to dispatch active duty military in states that are unable to put down an insurrection or are defying federal law.

“This is about authoritarianism. It’s about stoking fear,” Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said. “It’s about breaking the Constitution that would give him that much more control over our American cities.”

In Portland, an ICE facility in the city has been the site of nightly protests for months, peaking in June when police declared a riot, with smaller clashes since then. Federal officials had requested that the city set up “free speech zones” for demonstrators and ensure agents’ access to the building with a perimeter, which was in place for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s visit on Tuesday.

Mayor Keith Wilson told the Department of Homeland Security that the city “commits to peacefully facilitating free speech” and that police will “continue to evaluate the situation on the ground.”

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Toropin reported from Washington. Associated Press reporters Laura Bargfeld in Elwood, Illinois, Ed White in Detroit, Jonathan Mattise in Nashville, Tennessee, Claire Rush in Portland, Oregon, and Hallie Golden in Seattle, contributed to this story.