Chicago gun violence survivors, impacted families divided on Trump's plans to send National Guard
President Trump said the possible deployment of National Guard troops to Chicago would help tackle crime in the city.
But it also comes with violent crime numbers at a record low.
Community groups with personal experience with gun violence are falling on both sides of the debate. Some are adamantly against the president's plan, while others support it — but with an important caveat.
On Tuesday morning, a group of gun violence survivors and prevention advocates met in Federal Plaza. They said the Trump Administration's plan is not about safety, it's about control.
"Our communities are being threatened by policies rooted in fear," an advocate said.
The group says federal troops are not the answer to reducing crime in Chicago and calls the proposal "dangerous" and "misguided."
"Chicago is not a battlefield," said Yolanda Androzzo of One Aim Illinois. "Chicago is our home."
"We do not need dictators telling us what to do with our communities," said Artinese Myrick of the group Live Free Illinois. "Let me be clear — our communities are not asking for military takeover."
The group called on the White House to invest in gun violence programs rather than send in federal troops.
"Survivors, those who have lived through the trauma of losing loved ones, know firsthand that over-policing our communities is not the answer," organizers said in a written statement.
One gun violence survivor also said Chicago is not in a state of emergency.
"I'm looking around right now. I don't see a war zone," said Samuel Mook Mormon. "I go in my neighborhood. I go to the same place where I got shot. It's not a war zone."
Mormon said he was shot in the head in 2017 while standing on a porch in Chicago's Chatham neighborhood.
"It shattered around my brain instead of through my skull," he said.
Mormon's life changed after that. He turned to community violence intervention, and supports using social programs to bring down crime.
When asked how he feels about the possibility of the National Guard being on Chicago streets, Mormon said not only would it not be helpful now, but it would never have been helpful at any point to help him or prevent the gun violence that he saw growing up.
"No, it actually would have had an adverse effect," he said. "Militarism is just not the answer. It never has been, and it never will be."
Mormon said the presence of the National Guard could cause added trauma and reverse the work of community violence interrupters and social programs.
"It's not going to be the answer," he said. "What's the answer after they leave? Is it going to stay forever?"
But not all organizers in Chicago share Mormon's view.
"When you have family that has left this earth because of gun violence, I'm leaning toward it," said Helen Land of Chicago's West Side.
Land lost her grandson to gun violence in 2018.
"His funny-talking to me and kissing me on my forehead, and telling me, 'Oh lady, you didn't do this, you didn't do that' — I miss that," said Land.
The boy's mother, Land's daughter, died nearly two years later — in the wake of the grief she felt losing her son.
"My daughter passed away of an induced stress aneurysm, and when she dropped to the floor, her heart stopped beating," said Land. "But it was a broken heart that took her life."
Now, Land helps other mothers who have lost their children with her organization, "Where Do We Go from Here?"
While she supports the National Guard coming to Chicago, Land does have a caveat.
"If they put it where it's needed, it wouldn't be Michigan Avenue," Land said. "The violence goes downtown when the people go downtown, but the violence hasn't left the community."
Meanwhile, if the National Guard is deployed, getting to and from school could soon look a while lot different for Chicago teens who are now back in the classroom.
"I don't think it will achieve the results the president hopes, but it will cause a lot of fear among youth," said Lisa Thurau, executive director of Strategies for Youth.
Strategies for Youth trains and educates law enforcement and kids across the country on best practices when it comes to interacting with one another.
"We're all concerned that this will lead to someone with a very powerful gun overreacting to a youth, and a youth getting hurt," said Thurau. "When we've taken those very strict hard-on-crime, tough-on-crime approaches, we see recidivism go up."
The National Guard does not have the authority or power to act as a police force or make arrests. They can only assist in protecting federal agents who can make arrests.
In Washington, D.C., Attorney General Pam Bondi announced there have been more than 1,000 arrests by federal law enforcement in the last two weeks or so. It was not clear late Tuesday how that number may be impacted at all by factors such as immigration-related arrests.
It also is not known what the directive would be should the National Guard be in Chicago next.
Illinois leaders say "Do not come to Chicago"
Chicago and Illinois officials spoke out against Trump's plans on Monday.
Gov. JB Pritzker was joined by 100 local and community leaders — among them U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth (D-Illinois), Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, Reps. Mike Quigley and Raja Krishnamorthi, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, and the Rev. Michael Pfleger.
"Mr. President, do not come to Chicago," Pritzker said. "You are neither wanted here nor needed here."
On Tuesday, President Trump doubled down and said National Guard troops will be coming to the city — and took Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker to task.
"We have the toughest guys and we have the best guys, and I'm willing to go to Chicago, which is a big trouble, but we have a governor that refuses to admit he has problems — huge problems," President Trump said.