* Governor JB Pritzker started off a morning news conference today with a speech condemning political violence. An excerpt…

Pritzker: Last week, as you all know, the assassination of Charlie Kirk added to that fear both about gun violence and about being killed for speaking your mind, this is a moment when Americans must come together and say clearly that threats and political violence are not the answer, because, well, we are now living in a moment when there’s an alarming trend in this Country.

It’s been going on for the last several years, the attempted assassination of President Trump, arson at Governor Josh Shapiro’s home, the murders of folks at the US Capitol on January 6, bomb threats against the Texas House Democrats when they were here in the Chicago area, plots to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer, bomb threats at both political parties’ headquarters, the assassinations of Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, and the shootings of State Senator John Hoffman and his wife, the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Political violence has increased substantially against both Republicans and Democrats. Democracy is designed precisely to avoid political violence, and it’s now incumbent upon leaders of all stripes to work together to stop it, most especially this should come from the top.

Yet with each new crisis in recent years, we are reminded that we cannot rely on President Trump to tamp down the anger and the passion in the aftermath of political violence. Instead, he actively fans the flames of division, as he did on Friday, regularly advocates violence for political retribution, and in more than one case declares we are at war, not with a foreign adversary, but with each other.

I don’t believe any of that. Our people are not at war with one another. In these moments, real leaders offer words of solace and calm, except for one, every president in my lifetime has done this in the wake of political violence. They take action for positive change. They bring people together. They make Americans feel safe. They let them know violence is never the answer.

This is a watershed moment in our country. We can choose to stay silent and live in fear of more political violence, or we can choose to be loud for peace, for compassion and for an America where people settle their political differences through free speech and at the ballot box. Let’s be those people. That’s the path Illinois chooses, and I implore the president to do the same.

* Gov. Pritzker was asked about his comments and the impeachment articles filed by Rep. Chris Miller, who claims the governor has incited violence…

Reporter: From your initial comments about Charlie Kirk and comments today, there was been some pushback from Republicans, some said they would like to file articles of impeachment… Some might even perceive these comments today as a ‘Sorry, but.’ You’re still blaming President Trump, and they’re going to say that this is not the appropriate time.

Pritzker: Anyone who is fomenting attacks, anyone who is saying things that, especially in this moment when we should have calm, when we should have someone at the top who is asking people to take a step back, anyone who’s doing that deserves criticism, and I think it’s incumbent upon me as the leader of this state, to tell people that we need to act with calm in this moment, that people need to act peacefully in this moment.

Reporter: You’ve called Republicans Nazis…

Pritzker: No, I have not. That is completely false. I have never called Republicans Nazis.

Reporter: I’m glad to clear that up because…

Pritzker: Well, that’s what they’d like to say. They’re lying. They’re lying.

Click here for his initial comments on Charlie Kirk. Background on the Nazi accusation is here and here. Please re-read them both.

* On President Trump sending the National Guard to Memphis instead of Chicago…

Reporter: What’s your level of confidence on whether the Guard won’t actually show up?

Pritzker: Well, I’m pleased that the President has said that he is not sending National Guard or military troops to Chicago. So we should all celebrate that comment of his. And I’m glad to hear it. On the other hand, as you’ve heard, the President says things one day and then goes back on them the next day, changes his mind from week to week. So we never really know what he intends to do. All I can say is that sending troops into any American city is a terrible idea. The law and the Constitution only allow it in the case of insurrection or a national emergency, and those are not taking place in any city across the United States,

Reporter: So, no updates…

Pritzker: Have not heard anything more than what the President said on Friday.

* On the Franklin Park ICE shooting…

Pritzker: We need more information. We’ve asked ICE for all of the information around it. They have given very little. I know that there is an ICE agent who was taken to the hospital. [I] don’t currently know that person’s condition, don’t exactly know what the injuries were, or for exactly from what. But it’s important for us to know that as well as what were the circumstances that were leading them to pursue this person in the way that they did. This is somebody who, as I understand, was on their way home, perhaps from dropping their children off at daycare. We don’t exactly know what all the circumstances were, so it’s hard for me to make comments about it, but the important thing is we should have transparency. Just like there’s frustration over people wearing masks and throwing people into vans in a way that does not seem American to me. It does not seem constitutional to me. We now see that ICE is unwilling to share the details of what has happened.

If this were the Chicago Police Department, if this were the sheriff’s office in Cook County, if this were Illinois State Police, you would have had a lot more information already released. But apparently, ICE is unwilling to provide the transparency that I think the American public and the public here deserves the over.

Reporter: [Asked if there will be an Illinois State Police investigation.]

Pritzker: Well, again, this is the federal government. We don’t have the ability to have state or local resources focused on investigating the federal law enforcement agencies. But again, this is the most unusual situation I’ve seen in my entire lifetime, where we have no transparency, and the federal government is not policing itself, even the offices of inspector generals are being dismantled under this administration, so we may never really know what the truth is.

* On Gov. Jim Edgar’s death…

Pritzker: I think many of you know Governor Edgar, have met him, or have seen him or experienced his leadership. I got to know him as I was running for governor and when I became governor, and he’s somebody who carried with him a dignity, an honor and an honesty that is worthy of praise and worthy of emulation. And so many, many times over the last seven years, I have reached out to him for advice, to seek his observations, to get ideas from him. He is somebody, he was a Republican, but he understood that that people in public service are trying to do what’s best for the state of Illinois. And so I had a very dear fondness for him, and I will miss him terribly. I got to honor him just recently in Springfield when we named a room at the library, Reading Room, which is very appropriate for him, and where he got to speak and hear many of us extol his virtues. And I’m very sorry for his family. I had the chance to speak with his family last night, and we’re going to do everything we can to help honor his legacy in this country and in this state.