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Who is Mike Johnston? Denver mayor dares Donald Trump over mass deportations, expresses willingness to go to jail
Mike Johnston, the Democrat mayor of Denver, has stated that he will urge citizens to oppose the mass deportations of migrants planned in Colorado.
Mike Johnston, the Democrat mayor of Denver, has stated that he will urge citizens to oppose the mass deportations of migrants that President-elect Donald Trump has planned in Colorado. This comes as local authorities in “sanctuary cities” have started organising how to handle the issue.
Speaking to Denver's station 9, Johnston, 50, stated that he is prepared to serve time in prison in order to halt any attempts at deportation.
Calling it a “Tiananmen Square moment,” the mayor of Denver has pledged to use local police and 50,000 citizens “stationed at the county line” to protect migrants residing in his sanctuary city from Trump's mass deportation.
“More than us having [federal agents] stationed at the county line to keep them out, you would have 50,000 Denverites there,” he stated.
“It’s like the Tiananmen Square moment … right?” Johnston asked, making a reference to the well-known conflict between a Chinese student and a government tank at Tiananmen Square, China, during the 1989 uprising.
“You’d have every one of those Highland moms who came out for the migrants,” he continued, adding that “And you do not want to mess with them,” recalling the time when Denver people were reportedly ready to fight the federal government to the death.
Mike Johnston faces flak for his warning
Danielle Jurinsky (R), a councilwoman for Aurora City, told The Post that Johnston's strategy will simply highlight his ineffectiveness in one of the nation's so-called sanctuary cities, which deter or prohibit local officials from assisting federal immigration investigators in migrant cases.
“Aurora does not plan to provide the Trump administration any assistance, as far as I know, but we will certainly not stand in the way of what the American people voted for,” he stated.
After Johnston compared his endeavor to Tiananmen Square, Xi Van Fleet, a Chinese survivor of Mao's revolution, lambasted him on Thursday, telling Fox Business that he is “either profoundly ignorant of the history, or he did the false analogy on purpose.”
Elon Musk, who Trump just appointed to lead the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), also reacted to Johnston’s warning, saying that it demonstrates “the mayor of Denver hates his constituents.”
Trump's border czar speaks out
Tom Homan, Trump's choice for “border czar,” told The Post that he hopes the incoming government will sue sanctuary communities and stop providing them with federal funds.
He claimed that if they don't alter their stand, the Trump government will “flood” certain communities with Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel to stay outside local prison for the release of illegal migrants.
Johnston declared that he would not permit local law enforcement to help the federal government apprehend undocumented migrants.
“Absolutely not,” Johnston remarked. “We won’t do it.”
