• 300 National Guardsmen to be deployed after a federal agent shot an allegedly armed motorist amid ICE crackdown
• Judge calls Trump’s claims of a ‘war-ravaged’ city ‘untethered to the facts’

CHICAGO: US President Donald Trump authorised deployment of troops to Chicago after a federal agent shot an allegedly armed motorist there on Saturday, while a judge blocked the Republican leader’s attempt to send the military into Portland, another Democratic-run city.

The escalating crisis across the country pits Trump’s increasingly militarised anti-crime and migration crackdown against opposition Democrats who accuse him of an authoritarian power grab.

“President Trump has authorised 300 national guardsmen to protect federal officers and assets” in Chicago, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement, after weeks of the Republican threats to send troops to the Midwestern city over the wishes of local leaders.

Trump vowed not to ignore “lawlessness” in US cities, while Senator Dick Durbin called his move “shameful,” saying the president wasn’t truly fighting crime.

He is intent on spreading fear.” Chicago and Portland are the latest flashpoints in the Trump administration’s rollout of raids, following the deployment of troops to Los Angeles and Washington.

The raids have seen groups of masked, armed men in unmarked cars and armored vehicles target residential neighbourhoods and businesses, sparking protests.

A US judge rejected Trump’s claims of “war-ravaged” Portland, saying his description was “untethered to the facts.” Judge Karin Immergut noted that while some violence occurred, there was no evidence of an organised attempt to overthrow the government.

Protests in Portland did not pose a “danger of rebellion” and “regular law enforcement forces” could handle such incidents, Immergut said.

Oregon Senator Ron Wyden praised the ruling, saying it proved the state didn’t need Trump’s “provocative” federal troops. In contrast, White House aide Stephen Miller called the decision “legal insurrection,” accusing Oregon leaders of an “organized terrorist attack” on the government.

‘Operation Midway Blitz’

Earlier Saturday, a federal officer in Chicago shot a motorist after law enforcement agents were “boxed in by 10 cars,” the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said.

“Agents were unable to move their vehicles and exited the car. One of the drivers who rammed the law enforcement vehicle was armed with a semi-automatic weapon,” DHS assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin said. “Law enforcement was forced to deploy their weapons and fire defensive shots at an armed US citizen,” she said.

AFP could not independently verify the DHS version of the event.

The agency said the motorist “drove herself to the hospital to get care for wounds,” but Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Merritt told the Sun-Times newspaper that she was found in fair condition and taken to a local hospital.

McLaughlin also accused Chicago police of “leaving the shooting scene” with officers refusing “to assist us in securing the area.” Chicago police told local broadcaster Fox 32 that officers responded to the scene but the department “is not involved in the incident or its investigation.

Federal authorities are investigating this shooting.” Following the shooting, protesters who had gathered chanting “ICE go home!” were met with tear gas and pepper balls, temporarily dispersing before returning, the Sun-Times reported.

Protesters left after federal agents vacated the scene.

Trump’s “Operation Midway Blitz” was launched in Chicago last month, and Saturday’s shooting is not the first time federal agents have opened fire.

Published in Dawn, October 6th, 2025