CHICAGO, Illinois, November 3, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – The Democratic Governor of Illinois has ordered the state’s National Guard to assemble in Chicago in the event that civil unrest breaks out in the days after the presidential election.
According to a Chicago Tribune report, Gov. J.B. Pritzker is putting the National Guard personnel in a “state of readiness,” because results from the election might not be posted until possibly Friday.
“It will possibly take until Wednesday, or Thursday, or even Friday to get results for some races in Illinois and in states across the country,” said Pritzker at his daily COVID-19 news conference as reported by the Tribune.
“It is very important that we are patient with the presidential election. We may very well not know who won the election on Wednesday, let alone Tuesday night.”
According to a tweet from the Chicago Office of Emergency Management (OEMC), the National Guard has been stationed at McCormick Place (the Chicago Convention Centre) and will act only if called upon by city officials.
“The City has not made any calls to deploy the National Guard in Chicago. Similar to past emergency preparedness plans, the State has stationed personnel at McCormick Place to be ready to respond if needed, however, there are currently no plans for them to be deployed,” tweeted OEMC today.
The City has not made any calls to deploy the National Guard in Chicago. Similar to past emergency preparedness plans, the State has stationed personnel at McCormick Place to be ready to respond if needed, however, there are currently no plans for them to be deployed. https://t.co/EoxZiw90Rs
— Chicago OEMC (@ChicagoOEMC) November 2, 2020
At his press conference, Pritzker added that he wants to “make sure that the cities, counties that call upon us for help, from the state of Illinois, that we have those resources available to them.”
National Guard troops have also been ordered to be “ready” by their respective state governors in Massachusetts and Oregon in response to possible unrest due to the election.
Chicago has been rocked by violent crime in recent months, with the cities murder rate skyrocketing 50 percent overall in 2020.
Yesterday the Trump campaign issued a warning that Democrats have already made plans to delegitimize a victory for President Trump.
“Biden’s political operatives have already been distributing talking points and research to delegitimize Election Day results by coaching surrogates to refer to the President’s Election Day success as a ‘Red Mirage,’” reads the statement.
After Trump’s victory in 2016, violence erupted in many cities across the U.S., with anti-Trump, liberal activist groups fueling the unrest.
RELATED
Threats of fraud, violence as presidential election looms