Chicago mayor, in reversal, accepts 'Operation Legend'

FPI / July 26, 2020

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot vowed that she would never accept President Donald Trump's offer to send federal law enforcement personnel into the violence-plagued city.

“Under no circumstances will I allow Donald Trump’s troops to come to Chicago and terrorize our residents,” Lightfoot tweeted Tuesday.

Not only are Black Lives Matter and Antifa rioters destroying the city, but Chicago police announced that there are over 117,000 gang members in Chicago. Several children have been among those murdered in Chicago in recent months.

After Trump had a conversation with Lightfoot on Wednesday evening, now she’s in agreement with him sending in the federal law enforcement personnel.

In a statement obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times, the mayor’s office said Trump “reached out to Mayor Lightfoot this evening to confirm that he plans to send federal resources to Chicago to supplement ongoing federal investigations pertaining to violent crime.”

Lightfoot and Trump are in agreement over the strategy of sending in federal agents to plug into existing operations, the Sun-Times reported.

“Mayor Lightfoot maintains that all resources will be investigatory in nature and be coordinated through the U.S. Attorney’s office,” the statement said. “The Mayor has made clear that if there is any deviation from what has been announced, we will pursue all available legal options to protect Chicagoans.”

Trump announced the beginning of “Operation Legend” on Wednesday, an effort that will deploy federal officials to assist local law enforcement in controlling unrest. The federal agents will be sent to Chicago, Kansas City and New Mexico, according to Attorney General William Barr.

Operation Legend takes its name from the 4-year-old LeGend Taliferro, who was killed by a stray bullet while sleeping in his family's apartment in Kansas City.

LeGend’s mother, Charron Powell, attended the White House event promoting the task force, as did LeGend’s father and grandparents.

“Operation Legend is not to harass, it’s not to harm or to hurt. It is to help investigate unsolved murders, in which one of those happens to be our innocent four-year-old son,” Powell said. “This operation is personal to us. We want justice for our son and others.”

Powell recalled that LeGend was her one and only son who fought through open-heart surgery at four months only to die as a result of crime in the city. She said that her family supported the operation and urged all Americans to assist federal officers in their communities.

“I want it to be successful. So if every community can reach out to that hotline if you know any information about any murder, that would be great,” Powell said.

Trump said: “This rampage of violence shocks the conscience of our nation and we will not stand by and watch it happen.”

Free Press International