Mayor Brandon Johnson told MSNBC on Sunday morning that “people will rise up against tyranny” if President Trump moves forward with his plan to send the national guard to police the streets of Chicago the way they’re doing in Washington D.C. “The city of Chicago does not need a military-occupied state,” he said.

MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON: The president does not have the constitutional or legal authority to federalize the National Guard here in Illinois. It would be, again, a clear, flagrant violation of the Constitution and federal laws. You know what we’ve said here repeatedly, and this is the conversation that the governor and I have on a regular basis. If the president was actually sincere about reducing violence in Chicago or anywhere else in this country, he would not have taken $ 800 million away from violence prevention dollars. We’ve seen in his “nasty bill,” the largest concentration of wealth in the hands of the ultra-rich. It reminds me of Brandeis, who said, Listen, you can either have wealth concentrated into the hands of the few, or you can have a democracy. But you cannot have both. This president has attacked everything that’s sensible about our society. He’s taking food away from families. He’s taking medicine away from families. He’s defunded our education system. That’s the opposite, the antithesis, of what we’re doing here in Chicago-investing in affordable homes, investing in small businesses, making sure the most vulnerable people have access to high-quality education as well as health care, including mental and behavioral health care. So the governor and I have been very clear that not only is he in violation of the Constitution, we have to remain committed to ensuring that we’re investing in working families. Look, the National Guard is not going to put food on the table. The National Guard is not going to reduce unemployment. The National Guard is not going to give people access to health care. This president, of course, has again demonstrated that he is inimical to the interests of working people. But here in Chicago-a pro-worker city, a city that said, Yes we can, a city that said, Keep hope alive-this is a city where resistance came alive. Dr. King said if we can do it right in Chicago, we can do it anywhere, anywhere in the world. And that’s what we’re doing: building safe and affordable communities across Chicago. If the president was sincere about those types of investments, he would not be prancing around the country using unconstitutional means to ultimately extend his authoritarian rule. MSNBC HOST: Mr. Mayor, in the time we have left, I just want to get your reaction to another thing in The Washington Post story. I’m reading directly here: it says the use of thousands of active-duty troops in Chicago also has been discussed, but is considered less likely at this time. We saw him do that with active-duty Marines on the streets of Los Angeles. What would the reaction be in Chicago if the president of the United States does indeed put active-duty military on the streets of Chicago? BRANDON JOHNSON: Well, again, the city of Chicago does not need a military-occupied state. That’s not who we are. And I commend the work of Mayor Bass, my colleague, and all the folks in Los Angeles who stood up and fought against this authoritarianism. Here’s the bottom line: they don’t have police power. There’s nothing they can do. These are federal troops. They do not go through the training that our police officers go through. So they cannot even enact police authority. MSNBC HOST: But Mayor Johnson, they don’t have it now- BRANDON JOHNSON: That’s a good point. But the president has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to what? Arrest nine people in D.C.? That clearly demonstrates that he doesn’t have a level of consciousness to understand what it takes to run cities, not to mention an entire country. So, look, we’re going to remain firm. We’ll take legal action. But the people of this city are accustomed to rising up against tyranny. And if that’s necessary, I believe that the people of Chicago will stand firm alongside me as I work every single day to protect the people of this city. MSNBC HOST: But Mayor Johnson, they don’t have that power now, right? What we’ve seen is that this president and the administration are willing to stretch the bounds of everything. So currently they don’t have policing power, but that may not be true in the foreseeable future. Anything could happen on the streets of Chicago if the president actually does put, as he put it, regular military there. BRANDON JOHNSON: That’s why we’re all in lockstep here in the state of Illinois. As I continue to work with the governor, the Cook County Board president-these are strong partners and elected officials-as well as our faith community and our business leaders. Look, the city of Chicago, one of the most diverse economies in the world, a city that has been founded and established on the values of working people-we’re not going to surrender our humanity to this tyrant. I can tell you this: the city of Chicago has a long history of standing up against tyranny, resisting those who wish to undermine the interests of working people. We’re not going to back down. We’re not going to cower. We’re not going to bend. We’re not going to break. We are Chicago. We are the soul of America. And we will miantain that posture from now, unitl…

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