Beginning at 5 p.m. there will be a protest at Trump Tower in Chicago, along with a women’s march this weekend, among other Windy City protests.
While other cities across the country are having similar experiences, the city of Chicago has been a target of President Donald Trump’s rhetoric since the 2016 election, essentially sparring with Mayor Rahm Emanuel on crime, policing and immigration.
In November, the Chicago City Council voted to remove honorary Trump Plaza street signs near the hotel and residential tower as a response to repeated harping on the city’s crime rate, NBC’s Chicago affiliate reported.
Emanuel also opened the city’s 311 line to residents looking for support resources and set up a legal fund.
In December, he met with Trump, delivering a letter from a group of 14 mayors urging the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program to continue through immigration reforms. The program protects children brought to the United States before age 16.
Then, following the January release of 2016 crime data by the Chicago Police Department, which showed Chicago to have had its bloodiest year in 2016, Trump tweeted:
Chicago murder rate is record setting - 4,331 shooting victims with 762 murders in 2016. If Mayor can’t do it he must ask for Federal help!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2017
Emanuel responded with his requests:
“As the president-elect knows from his conversation with the mayor, we agree the federal government has a strong role to play in public safety by funding summer jobs and prevention programming for at-risk youth, by holding the criminals who break our gun laws accountable for their crimes, by passing meaningful gun laws and by building on the partnerships our police have with federal law enforcement,” Emanuel spokesman Adam Collins said in a statement.
In the past, Trump had said Chicago cops could solve the problem by “being very much tougher,” according to the Chicago Tribune.
His First 100 Days in Office plan indicated that today, President Trump will immediately cut federal funding to sanctuary cities.
But Emanuel has a number of transportation projects that could be affected, and the city of Chicago is working on a $1 billion grant application for Union Station. While attending the U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) winter meeting, Emanuel met with Vice President Mike Pence on Jan. 17th, according to the Chicago Sun Times.
