Former Mayor Urges Federal Troop Deployment Following Shooting
A former mayor from a small town in Illinois has requested that state officials permit President Trump to send federal troops to Chicago after her father was seriously injured in a mass shooting. This incident occurred on Wednesday.
Tiffany Henyard, who used to serve as the mayor of Dolton, voiced her distress over the “senseless gun violence” that continues to afflict the state. Her 65-year-old father was shot in the neck in an alley off South Kedzie Avenue around 5:54 p.m. and is currently hospitalized in critical condition, according to the Chicago Police.
After the shots were fired, witnesses reported seeing three individuals fleeing the alley and entering an apartment complex, based on police communications and reports.
No arrests have been made related to the shooting, although various news sources have covered the event.
“Yesterday, my father, my hero, became the innocent victim of this random and heartbreaking act of violence,” Henyard stated. She expressed that this tragedy has profoundly affected her family and unfortunately mirrors the harsh reality faced by many families throughout Illinois.
The former mayor, now pursuing a Republican candidacy for the Fulton County Commission in Georgia, has called upon Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson to reconsider allowing federal authorities to assist in tackling violent crime. “At this time, I am urging Governor Pritzker and Mayor Johnson to reconsider federal support from President Trump to address this crisis and better protect the residents of Illinois, particularly in Chicago,” Henyard said.
“Across the country, communities that accepted federal assistance have seen notable crime rate reductions.”
Earlier, a shooting incident had occurred when Sheridan Gorman, an 18-year-old Loyola University student from Westchester County, was shot in the head by a suspect identified as Jose Medina Medina while out with friends near a Chicago pier. This happened around 1 a.m. on March 19.
Gorman’s family received the statement from Pritzker and Johnson with skepticism, stating that merely labeling the act “senseless” is insufficient. They emphasized, “Our daughter was not in the wrong place at the wrong time. The system failed her,” as reported.
“We’re not after empty words. What we seek is accountability.” Pritzker and Johnson have been strong opponents of Trump’s attempts to send federal troops to Chicago. Pritzker previously described the deployment of the National Guard as a step toward “full-fledged authoritarianism.”
In December, the Supreme Court dismissed Trump’s proposal to deploy the National Guard to the state, siding with a federal judge’s decision to halt the deployment. More recently, the Court also blocked Trump from sending the National Guard to the Chicago area for federal immigration enforcement.
