(WAND) — The Trump administration will federalize 300 members of the Illinois National Guard on Saturday, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker announced.
"This morning, the Trump Administration's Department of War gave me an ultimatum: call up your troops, or we will," said Pritzker. "It is absolutely outrageous and un-American to demand a Governor send military troops within our own borders and against our will."
Pritzker said the move is not about safety, but control, and that it follows "unprecedented escalations of aggression" against Illinois residents.
"[Friday], Kristi Noem's and Greg Bovino's masked agents threw chemical agents near an elementary school, arrested elected officials exercising their First Amendment rights, and raided a Wal-Mart," said Pritzker. "None of it was in pursuit of justice, but all of it was in pursuit of social media videos."
Pritzker said there is no need for military troops on the ground in Illinois, and said he will not call up the National Guard to "further Trump's acts of aggression against our people."
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