At Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s request, Gov. J.B. Pritzker is deploying 125 Illinois National Guard troops to Chicago on Tuesday in anticipation of a verdict in the trial of the former Minneapolis police officer charged with killing George Floyd last summer.
The Guard members will perform a “limited mission” that includes helping Chicago police manage street closures, according to the governor’s office.
The troops from the Guard’s 33rd Military Police Battalion are specially trained in riot control but “will not interfere with peaceful protesters exercising their First Amendment rights,” the governor’s office said Monday.
Pritzker also has directed the Illinois State Police to send additional troopers to support the Chicago Police Department.
“It is critical that those who wish to peacefully protest against the systemic racism and injustice that holds back too many of our communities continue to be able to do so,” Pritzker said in a statement. “Members of the Guard and the Illinois State Police will support the city of Chicago’s efforts to protect the rights of peaceful protesters and keep our families safe.”
The Guard and the state police played a similar role last spring during protests over the death of Floyd, who died after Officer Derek Chauvin held him down with his knee on his neck for several minutes. Pritzker in late May and early June sent 375 Guard members to Chicago and another 250 to the suburbs in the wake of unrest.
A jury began deliberating Monday in Chauvin’s trial. The 45-year-old former officer faces charges of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
The Chicago Police Department has been on a heightened state of alert in recent days due to the release of video of the fatal police shooting of 13-year-old Adam Toledo last week. The department’s preparation has included specialized units being readied for large demonstrations or unrest and the cancellation of days off.
Sources said some police units, including detective teams, will continue to have their days off canceled for the time being. A Chicago police spokesman referred all inquiries to Lightfoot’s office. A spokesperson for her office has said the safeguards in place were “out of an abundance of caution.”
The Cook County state’s attorney’s office was seeking volunteers from within its ranks to work in bond court and the felony review unit in the coming days, according to a source with knowledge of the situation. The extra prosecutors would be on hand in case the city sees unrest that leads to a sudden increase in incoming cases.
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