Gov. Pritzker Summons More Illinois National Guard, State Police

CHICAGO — Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced the deployment of additional members of the Illinois National Guard and Illinois State Police following a second day of looting in the Chicago area. The governor also declared a disaster for eight counties across the state. The latest declaration comes a few days after Pritzker extended the state's coronavirus disaster by another 30 days.

An initial group of 375 military police personnel were assigned Sunday to enforce the perimeter of a downtown area ordered closed to visitors by Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who declined to elaborate on the rules of engagement of their deployment.

"Since that deployment, we have received additional reports of escalating situations and requests for assistance from communities around the state," Pritzker said at a news conference Monday.

The governor said an additional 250 guardsmen were ready to help other communities across the state that have faced a "surge of destructive action" over the past 24 hours.

"In time property can be rebuilt, but the pain will fall disproportionately on the backs of our small business owners, our working families and our communities of color, and it has to stop," Pritzker said.

Lt. Col. David Byrd, assistant deputy director of the Illinois State Police, said troopers would be supporting local police in a variety of ways. State troopers have already been assisting with crowd and traffic control in multiple municipalities, he said.

State police personnel would also be helping with handling some investigations and responding to 911 calls within the city, where Chicago police have been "inundated with calls for service," he said. Lightfoot said emergency dispatchers got more than 10,000 calls of looting Sunday, at times handling up to 2,000 calls within a half-hour.

The latest disaster declaration is valid in Cook, Champaign, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Madison, Macon and Will counties, Pritzker announced. He said local law enforcement agencies would be in charge of setting their own missions and determining how they would handle looting and other criminal activities.

Pritzker said some elected officials would point to looting in Chicago to dismiss the concerns of protestors.

"Let me be clear, we cannot allow those who've taken advantage of this moment to loot and smash to also steal the voices of those expressing a need for real, meaningful change. That will not be our story in Illinois," he said. "Because this anger doesn't come out of nowhere, it's borne of decades and centuries of system racism and injustice. The White House might fan the flames, but the fear that what happened to George Floyd could happen to you, or to your son or daughter, is woven deeply into the fabric of what it means to be black in America."

Related:

• National Guard Deployed In Chicago As Looting Continues Sunday
• Community Coronavirus Testing Sites Shut Down After Protests
• Pritzker Blasts Trump 'Rhetoric,' Trump Fires Back On Call