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President Donald Trump said Monday that Baltimore and several other cities will receive “more federal law enforcement” but provided no information about why and what resources would be provided.
Trump, speaking at a White House briefing, said law enforcement in several major cities “are restricted from doing anything. They can’t do anything,” and that he would provide “more federal law enforcement” to several cities, including Baltimore, Chicago, Detroit, New York, Oakland and Philadelphia.
Trump did not elaborate on his comments, including what additional resources he has in mind.
The announcement seemed to come as a surprise to the Baltimore police department and Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan. A Baltimore police spokeswoman said she did not have information on additional resources being sent to the city and deferred comment to federal agencies. Hogan’s spokesman said the governor’s office has not been contacted about any federal involvement in Baltimore.
And a spokeswoman with the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s office declined to comment.
A group of Homeland Security vans were seen outside Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore on Tuesday afternoon, but the Maryland Stadium Authority said it was regularly scheduled training.
“We had some activity today that was regularly scheduled training for Secret Service and DHS. Today’s training related to canine bomb detection,” the MSA said in a statement.
A spokesman for Baltimore Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young said the city had no indication the Trump administration had moved forward any plans to send federal agents to the city.
Trump’s afternoon announcement cited the recent protests in Portland, Oregon, where demonstrators clashed with camouflaged federal agents — many with no name tags or even markings to identify which federal agency they work for — outside that city’s U.S. courthouse.
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“They really have done a fantastic job,” Trump said of the federal agents’ actions, which have been condemned by Portland’s mayor and Oregon’s governor, among many others.
Trump commended the law enforcement efforts in Portland, calling many of the protesters “anarchists.”
Trump also spoke of recent violence in Chicago, saying “how about Chicago, would you say they need help after this weekend?”
The Chicago Tribune reported Monday that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is planning to deploy about 150 federal agents to Chicago to assist other federal law enforcement and Chicago police in fighting-crime.
A Homeland Security spokesperson did not respond to an inquiry Monday from The Baltimore Sun.
Previously, Baltimore was named one of seven cities to receive federal dollars and personnel as part of a program to combat violent crime. The other cities selected for the program were Albuquerque, New Mexico; Cleveland; Kansas City; Memphis, Tennessee; and Milwaukee.
Baltimore Sun reporters Jeff Barker and Talia Richman contributed to this article.