Mayor Johnson remains defiant on Trump's pending National Guard deployment amid violent weekend

CHICAGO, Ill. — The crowd of protesters were packed tightly around the Haymarket Memorial to participate in a Labor Day march that shifted focus on the potential deployment of National Guardsmen to the city. President Donald Trump has said repeatedly he would like to have the same crime crackdown in Washington, D.C., to be done in the Windy City.

Mayor Brandon Johnson (D) joined the protesters to continue expressing his disapproval of the Trump administration's public safety plans for Chicago, which also include surging federal law enforcement agents.

"Are you prepared to defend this land? This land that [was] built by slaves. The land that was built by indigenous people. The land that was built by workers. Are you prepared to defend this land?" Johnson asked the cheering crowd. "I need you all to stand firm, to stand strong, if this president decides to continue to break this Constitution."

Johnson then led a "No troops in Chicago!" chant.

The protesting crowd featured many Mexican flags and flags from other Latin American countries as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed on Sunday extra immigration agents will be sent to the sanctuary city. While the crowd marched in neighborhoods close to the Loop, they did not march in the high-crime areas such as Humboldt Park or Englewood.

RELATED: Watch how Mayor Brandon Johnson reacts when asked if he will accept more police funding in Chicago

Brandon Johnson KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI/AFP via Getty Images

Johnson and other state Democrats' ongoing resistance to a federal crackdown on the city's crime could not have come at a worse time as over 50 people were shot during the Labor Day weekend. From Friday to Monday, at least 54 people shot, seven fatally, according to ABC 7 Chicago. Some of the incidents were mass shootings, which took place within 48 hours of each other. One of the mass shootings took place close to the headquarters for the Chicago Police Department.

Chicago Alderman Raymond Lopez (D), a staunch Johnson critic, asked those who would say “hell no” to extra federal personnel in the city: "How much crime do you find acceptable, how many people are you willing to make victims for your politics? In my opinion, any tool that prevents one more Chicagoan from being shot, robbed, carjacked, forced into human trafficking, or killed by cartel-delivered drugs is absolutely worth it!"

Lopez further suggested the National Guard protect the tourist areas of the city so Chicago police "don’t have to babysit the Bean or Buckingham Fountain for eight hours a day. Our officers can return to their districts [and] answer the thousands of 911 calls logged but never answered."

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