Fox News Digital spoke to Chicago Alderman Anthony Napolitano about news police were told not to assist federal agents in trouble. (Fox News Digital/Getty)
Napolitano called the stand-down order "unheard of" and something he "never" experienced during his time as a first responder and placed blame on Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson.
"This is pure politics controlling our police," Napolitano said. "A lot of people at City Hall feel the same way, even if they won’t say it out loud. The mayor’s administration is trying to create chaos—so that federal help looks catastrophic instead of helpful. It’s politics over public safety, and it’s outrageous. Officers swear an oath to the Constitution, not to the mayor."
Chicago has been at the center of the national immigration debate in recent weeks as ICE launched Operation Midway Blitz, describing the operation as one that "will target the criminal illegal aliens who flocked to Chicago and Illinois because they knew Governor Pritzker and his sanctuary policies would protect them and allow them to roam free on American streets."
Both Pritzker and Johnson have resisted Trump administration efforts to deploy federal resources to apprehend illegal immigrants in the city, with Johnson calling Trump "unstable" and labeling his efforts an "egregious attempt to undermine the sanctity of our democracy."
FBI DIRECTOR KASH PATEL VOWS JUSTICE AFTER DHS AGENT'S VEHICLE RAMMED IN CHICAGO
Screenshot of the Oct. 4, 2025 computer-aided dispatch message from Chicago’s chief of patrol instructing officers not to respond to a call for help from ICE agents who reported being surrounded outside the city. (Chicago Computer-Aided Dispatch System)
But two longtime ranking Chicago police sources sharply rejected the department’s assertion that officers responded to calls for help from ICE agents who were rammed and surrounded by protesters, telling Fox News it was, in their words, "COVER THEIR A-- BULLS--T!!"
One of the drivers accused of ramming into the law enforcement vehicle was armed with a semi-automatic weapon, according to DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, who also said officers were unable to move and "were forced to deploy their weapons and fire defensive shots at an armed U.S. citizen."
Napolitano told Fox News Digital that the mayor’s actions are likely motivated by his poll numbers being "in the gutter."
"A lot of us feel it's a burn the house down on the way out effect where you have no chance of being reelected, so what you're gonna do is try to get as much done as far as your agenda and their socialist movement over the last two years that they possibly can," Napolitano said. "So it's not about the city of Chicago, it's- about getting what they can get done before the 2027 election. That's all it is down there now."
Fox News Digital reached out to Johnson’s office for comment
Andrew Mark Miller is a reporter at Fox News. Find him on Twitter @andymarkmiller and email tips to AndrewMark.Miller@Fox.com.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/ex-chicago-police-officer-rips-citys-stand-down-order-swarmed-ice-agents-most-disgusting-act