Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot Criticized on Twitter for Saying She Won’t Allow Trump to Send in Troops to “Terrorize” Her Residents

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot's statements about federal law enforcement agents' presence in Portland are "devoid of any fact or truth," acting U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Mark Morgan stated Wednesday.

In an interview on "Fox & Friends," Morgan said he would "completely dismiss" Lightfoot's Tuesday claims the administration was acting unconstitutionally in the Oregon city, accusing the federal agencies of "authoritarianism."

"Well, first of all, I completely dismiss her reference [to] what's happening in Portland. Those are misinformed, irresponsible and reckless statements," he asserted. "And, they're just devoid of any fact or truth."

"Again, our presence in Portland is to respond to violent criminals who are willfully, knowingly, with intent, attacking federal property and the federal law enforcement that's there to defend that property. Hard stop on that," Morgan stated.

However, many warn Lightfoot has cause for concern when it comes to the presence of federal agents in the city. President Trump has insisted they are necessary to protect government assets in the city, but local officials and citizens are denouncing the use of often unidentified officers using military tactics.

In a Tuesday interview on "The Story," acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf said his agents were "having to go out and proactively arrest individuals" after now more than 50 days of protests, citing the destruction of federal property and attacks on officers.

"Attacking federal police officers and law enforcement officers which they have done for 52 nights in a row is a federal crime. And so the department, because we don't have that local support, that local law enforcement support, we are having to go out and proactively arrest individuals," he told host Martha MacCallum.

On Tuesday, Lightfoot tweeted that "under no circumstances" would she "allow Donald Trump’s troops to come to Chicago and terrorize [her] residents."

But that same night bullets flew once again on the mayor's streets outside a South Side funeral home, a shocking fusillade of gunfire that left at least 15 people wounded.

After a frenzied 24 hours during which Mayor Lori Lightfoot threatened to sue if President Donald Trump tried to send federal agents into Chicago without her permission, she acknowledged Tuesday that the city would be working with federal agents to fight crime but warned that her administration would be vigilant against abuses of power.

Lightfoot changed her tone after talking with U.S. Attorney John Lausch, a former colleague who she has said she respects and admires, who assured her an influx of law enforcement would be working “collaboratively” with Chicago cops against violent crime.

The unfolding situation in Chicago “at this point” won’t resemble the situation playing out in Portland, Oregon, where unidentified federal agents wearing camouflage uniforms have been denounced by local leaders for their actions, Lightfoot said at an unrelated news conference.

Instead, Lightfoot said she expects Chicago will receive resources that will plug into existing federal agencies that already work with the city, including the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Still, Lightfoot was careful not to put too much trust in the White House and an administration with which she’s had a mostly adversarial relationship since she took office last year.

“I don’t put anything past this administration, which is why we will continue to be diligent and why we will continue to be ready,” Lightfoot said. “If we need to stop them and use the courts to do so, we are ready to do that.”

For Lightfoot, the prospect of increased federal assistance for anti-crime efforts is a thorny proposition. More federal agents could help with the city’s skyrocketing violence, but the unfolding controversy in Portland and Trump’s repeated harsh rhetoric toward Chicago has led to high public mistrust in the federal government.

The announcement about federal agents coming to Chicago is the latest development in an ongoing war of words between the Republican president and Democratic mayor.

Last month, Trump lashed out at Lightfoot and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker over Chicago’s gun violence, saying the two had put their “own political interests” ahead of the lives of residents and insisting that “law and order” was needed.

Lightfoot, who has ripped Trump, his daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner, responded with a statement saying she doesn’t “need leadership lessons” from the president and accused him of using victims of gun violence to try to score “cheap political points.”

In recent weeks, Lightfoot repeatedly has questioned the sincerity of Trump’s offer to help Chicago and denounced his response to George Floyd’s killing by a Minneapolis police officer.

“What I really want to say to Donald Trump … begins with F and it ends with U,” she said in May after Floyd was killed.

On Monday, the Tribune reported that the Department of Homeland Security is crafting plans to deploy about 150 federal agents to the city this week.

Lightfoot clearly has an ego problem here.

She's so focused on making Trump look like a bad guy, that she won't even accept help with saving her failing city.

As they say, pride comes before the fall.