President Donald Trump took to Twitter last night to threaten to “send in the feds” if the city of Chicago fails to “fix the horrible ‘carnage'”.
If Chicago doesn’t fix the horrible “carnage” going on, 228 shootings in 2017 with 42 killings (up 24% from 2016), I will send in the Feds!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2017
Earlier Tuesday, the Chicago Police Department had reported 250 shootings and 37 gun homicides in the first 24 days of January. The entire month of January 2016 saw 51 gun homicides in Chicago, meaning January 2017 will likely end with more than the same month last year; it’s unclear where Trumps “up 24%” claim comes from.
It’s also unclear exactly what “send in the feds” means, or how federal law enforcement would interact with local police without violating the United States Constitution, which limits federal police powers as well as federal authority over local jurisdictions.
Reaction on Twitter was swift, as usual.
@MikeElgan Who doesn’t understand the 10th Amendment.
— Jordan Uhl (@JordanUhl) January 25, 2017
.@realDonaldTrump The Feds have already been there, and they’ve already diagnosed the problem: https://t.co/uAhttsYw9h
— Radley Balko (@radleybalko) January 25, 2017
Trump promised, also on Twitter, a number of “national security” announcements today, Tweeting last night, “we will build the wall!”
Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2017