Judge Andrew Napolitano, senior judicial analyst at Fox News, told “Fox & Friends” on Thursday that “consent” determines whether the deployment of federal agents in Chicago and other cities to help combat rising crime rates is constitutional.
“The essence here is consent,” said Napolitano.
“If state officials or local officials consent to the introduction of federal assets on the streets and for law enforcement purposes, there is no constitutional impediment,” he explained. “But if they don’t give their consent, there is a constitutional impediment.”
President Trump announced Wednesday that he is deploying 100 federal agents in Chicago, a move that marks an expansion of White House intervention in local law enforcement as Trump continues to position himself as the “law and order” president.
The “surge” of agents to Chicago and other American cities is part of Operation Legend, named after 4-year-old LeGend Taliferro, who was shot dead while sleeping in a Kansas City apartment late last month, and filed as federal police officers. We have already descended in Portland, Oregon and Kansas City, Missouri.
“The effort to shut down the police in their own communities has led to a shocking explosion of shooting, murder, violence, murder,” Trump said during a speech in the East Room of the White House. “This rampage of violence is shaking our nation’s conscience and we are not going to wait and see it happen.”
“Importantly, the operations we are talking about are the standard crime-fighting activities we have been carrying out across the country for decades,” Attorney General Bill Barr said Wednesday. “We will add federal agents to the task forces … They will work shoulder to shoulder with our state and local colleagues.”
“Obviously, this is a different type of operation than the tactical teams we use to defend ourselves against riot and mob violence, and we will continue to confront mob violence,” Barr added.
Napolitano explained why “consent” is the “essence”, noting the opinion of the late judge Antonin Scalia on the subject.
“If the feds force the state to spend money or use their state assets in a way they don’t want to do, that violates the concept of federalism,” said Napolitano. “Federalism is the area of regulatory authority that states withheld when they joined the union and health and safety are among them.”
He then went on to provide Chicago as an example.
“Yes mayor[Lori] Lightfoot says to the attorney general or the president: ‘Yes, I want your boys to work side by side, shoulder to shoulder, as the attorney general said, with my people, but I don’t want them to face the people, I don’t want them enforce local laws, I want you to work with my people. ‘ There is nothing wrong with that, ”said Napolitano.
“But if they work alone and she doesn’t want them there, according to the Constitution they have to go.”
Chicago, which is currently experiencing a wave of deadly gun violence, has been a particular target of Trump’s criticism. A shooting at a funeral home earlier this week left 14 people injured, and followed a weekend that saw 10 people killed and 60 people injured due to gun violence.
PORTLAND PROHIBITS POLICE WORK WITH FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT
“At least 414 people have been killed in the city this year,” said Trump. “These are numbers that you can’t even believe.”
In a letter signed by 16 mayors, including Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, asking Trump to reverse his orders, Lightfoot said: “We welcome the association, not the dictatorship, and we will never tolerate the type of unconstitutional deployment and the state-sanctioned illegality we saw in Portland. ”
Host Steve Doocy noted that “the President of the United States and the Attorney General have every right in the world to go ahead and order federal agents to protect federal assets” in Portland in accordance with the law, “if the police local under the direction of the mayor there will not protect federal facilities. “
Napolitano agreed and said: “They have every right to do it and would be abandoned if they did not do it.”
“Portland is a unique situation and it is very sad. In fact, it is condemnable because you have a mayor and city officials who have handcuffed the police, and therefore innocent life and valuable property have been harmed, ”said Napolitano. “I don’t know what those people can do. They need to kick the mayor out. “
Mayor Wheeler has consistently demanded that President Trump withdraw federal agents deployed in the city amid criticism of a harsh response against protesters and journalists and reports that militarized police personnel have refused to identify themselves. Wheeler even said federal agents are escalating the violence in Portland.
“How [Thomas] Jefferson said that when the government systematically and repeatedly assaults your rights or refuses to protect them, it is time for people to alter or eliminate the government, “said Napolitano.
“That is not the case or does not appear to be the case in Chicago or in other states where the president has actually spoken to mayors before deciding to send people.”
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He went on to explain that “if federal assets are in Portland, just to defend federal property, they have every right to do it, but if they are there to intimidate or affect protesters, they have no right to do it.” that. In fact, they have to protect the protesters, not push them back. “
Fox News’ Andrew O’Reilly and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
