Crime & Law

National Guard Troops No Longer Expected at Dirksen Courthouse Friday During ‘High Profile’ Federal Hearings

There are “no plans” for National Guard troops who were sent to Illinois this week to be assigned to protect Chicago’s federal courthouse Friday after the chief judge said she never requested or approved their presence.

Attorneys for the Trump administration filed a declaration from Major General Niave F. Knell overnight Thursday in which she said federalized National Guard personnel have been requested for “protection support” at two areas in Illinois: the Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing center in suburban Broadview and the Dirksen Federal Building in downtown Chicago.

But Virginia Kendall, the chief judge for the Northern District of Illinois which operates out of the Dirksen, said Thursday morning she hasn’t sought any aid from the National Guard.

“At no point did I, nor did the Building Security Committee, authorize or request the National Guard’s assistance to secure the Dirksen courthouse,” Kendall said in a statement.

In a separate filing Thursday afternoon, Knell claimed to have received a verbal request for the National Guard’s presence to protect “Federal buildings in the Federal Plaza” on Friday.

“At the time, I was not aware the request to protect the Federal Plaza did not include the Federal District Court,” Knell wrote in the updated filing. “To date, there are no requests from the U.S. Marshals Service, and there are no plans for the National Guard to be at the courthouse.”

Hundreds of National Guard members from Texas arrived in Illinois in an unprecedented deployment following orders from the Trump administration to protect ICE agents and federal property. Knell's declaration also confirmed members of California's National Guard have been sent to Illinois.

A federal judge on Thursday is expected to rule on a temporary restraining order requested by Chicago and Illinois officials that could halt that deployment.

According to Knell, the Dirksen request was made by the Federal Protective Service due to “two high profile cases" involving Department of Homeland Security activities and personnel in the Chicago area.

That includes a detention hearing for Juan Espinoza Martinez, a reputed Latin King gang member who federal prosecutors claim placed a bounty on the head of a senior law enforcement official in an alleged murder-for-hire plot. The Chicago Tribune has reported the official targeted in those allegations was Border Patrol Chief Greg Bovino.

Kendall said the U.S. Marshall’s service has jurisdiction over the interior and exterior security at the Dirksen, but she has also approved additional security measures to allow court operations to proceed.

But, she said, those measures “do not include the National Guard at the Dirksen Courthouse.”

The village of Broadview on Thursday also confirmed 45 members of the Texas National Guard had arrived at the suburban ICE facility, adding that local police officers “observed the vans parked in the rear of 2000 25th Ave and all of the guards were sleeping.”

“We let them sleep undisturbed,” the village said in a statement. “We hope that they will extend the same courtesy in the coming days to Broadview residents who deserve a good night’s sleep, too. #TiredTexans.”

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