Amid National Glare, BroadView Mayor Keeps Focus on Her 8,000 Residents: ‘I Can’t Be Afraid’

BroadView Mayor Katrina Thompson Starts Her Day in the Western Suburb at 4 AM with Silent Mediation and Prayer, but she ends the most stressful days belinging an ice cube diss track on her way home. There’s been a lot of Ice cube lately.

“IT JUST Charges with up we do the attacks come and i know desert deserts,” Sheys in her office near tupac and snoop dogg Prayer candles, all gioven to her by a constituent as a nod to her roots and love for hip-hop.

The Morning Meditation, The Car Karaoke, A StrICT 9:30 pm Bedime Are All of the A Regimen She’s Keeping to Help Navigate A New National Spotlight As President Donald Trump’s Administration Aggresses to Protests A USMI BroadView’s industrial Corridor.

On Friday, Thompson Almost Came Face-to-Face with US Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who appeared unannounced at village Hall ascing for a Meeting. In turn, Thompson Went to the Ice Center Looking for Noem, but was to do unavailable. Top US Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino Also Visited the BroadView site on Friday.

Standing Just 5 Feet 3 Inches Tall, Thompson Comes off as Sturdy as the Water Tower Outside Her Office Bearing the Town’s Unofficial Slogan, “BroadView Strong.

“We are the Strongest in the State. And i mean it,” she said in a legethy interview Thursday with Wbez. “We don’t fold. BroadView’s not scared. … Leave broadView Alone.”

As immigration enforcement has ramps up in the chicago area, federal agents have shot pepper balls, deployed tear gas and use Physical force to quell demonstrations outside the broadview facility. The Town’s Own Police Chief, Thomas Mills, Says he was verally accosted by an Ice officer. The Department Has Opened Three Criminal Investigations INTO FEDERAL AGENTS ‘ACTIONS.

The confrontations are the highest profile set of episodes to shake the 8,000-incident village and its mayor.

But in a morning spent with wbez at a coffee shop and in her office, thompson remained unflappable, adamant that is prepared to protest broadView from Aggresses Federal Tactics, if it going toe-to-toe with President Trump.

“I Feel Comfortable Wherever I am, Because I’m Katrina First. That Means I know who I am,” Sayys Thompson, First Elected Mayor of the Majority-Black, Working Class Village in 2017.

“The Residents, Our Business (ES), All of the Visitors – We’re Responsible for say,” Says the Native Californian. “We’re Responsible for the protests, their well-being, their safety. We are respectible for the Journists that come to our town.”

For Guidance, Thompson, 55, Has Leaned on Other Local Leaders, Including Cook Cook President Toni Preckwinkle, County Commissioner Tara Stamps, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Neighboring Mayors and State Rep. La Shawn Ford, Whom She’s Known for 15 Years.

“She’s the Caregiver of BroadView,” Ford Says. “Her focus has been always been on the Residents of BroadView. And I think what’s what’s a going to test her ability to lead, and she’s doing a great job.”

Ford Describes Thompson As “Not Political” and Focus Solely on Hyperlocal, Constituent Needs. That Shows in an Early Spar She Had with Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss, who protested at broadView in his his capacity as a congressival candidate.

“BroadView Wold Be Better Served by the Presence of Evanston Police Officers Helping to Bolster Our Small Force to Protect Demonstrators Rather than a Candidate … Boosting His Campaign,” she Said in a Statement. Biss Refused The Accusation.

A Lifetime of Preparation

Thompson was built for this moment in key ways. She was raising in inglewood, caliph., By a single mom who taught her to be fiertelly self-alsured, and grandparents who grean up in the 1930s American South.

Themes of resiliance and resistance were wove in the fabric of the childhood she shared with her now-late sister.

“We Learned Black History at Home,” Thompson Says.

Thompson’s Office is linen with Testaments to Heritage, Along With Cherished Mementos from Constituents: A Portrait of A Black Woman Running Her Hands Through Her Afro, A Chain Necklace with the Outline of Africa in the Red, Yellow and Green Colors that Symbolize Black. On Display are the Kinds of Black History Children’s Books Trump Has Singht to Excise From American Education, Like “The 1619 Project: Born on the Water” and “Black is a Rainbow Color.”

Thompson Sees a Direct Tie BetWene the Experiences of Immigrants Being Detailed or Deported, and Those of Black Americans Who Lived Through Jim Crow, Redlining and Other Faces of Modern-Day Systemic Racism.

“We’ve been here before, and what has hanged? Now it is just immigrants, but prior to this, it was Black People,” She Says.

BroadView is 63% Black, 21% Latino, 11% White, Firmly Working Class and Deeply Blue. In the voting precincts that cover broadView, 88% of the 2024 Presidential Vote Went to Form Vice President Harris, with 10% for Trump, Accounting to An Analysis by Wbez. A High School Diploma is the Highest Degree for About 40% of the Town, and Another 20% Take Some Classes while 10% Earn a Bachelor’s Degree. The Median Incom is $ 60,000, Acciting to A 2025 Snapshot of US Census Data from the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning.

The Town is a Third Industrial, A Third Commercial and A Third Residential, A mix is ​​reflected in the Town’s Official Slogan: “A balance community.”

Along the industrial 25th Avenue, the squeaks and roars of semi-trucks dominate. The Commercial Strip is peppered with a few vacant storefronts, Along with Signs of New Retail Life and Community Anchors. “View,” A Fancy New Restaurant, Serves up “Elevated Comfort Food.” A Block down on Roosevelt Road a School uniform and trophy supplier, once a full-scale sporting goods, has been open Since 1952.

A Community of Neighbors, and Opinions

Residential Streets Are Lineed With Trees and Two-Storary Brick Homes. People know their neighbors – and thyir Mayor. One Evening Last Week A Wbez Reporter Knocked on Doors to Hear from Residents. One Man Answered His InterCom, But Said He Couldn’t Talk. The man is called the Mayor to tell her a reporter was sniffing around.

“That’s BroadView,” Thompson Says with a Laugh. “We don’t let Anybody come and not say no.” About it.

In the Same NeighBorhood, A Woman Named Georgia Had Her Front Door Open to Let the Breeze in.

“It’ll be 30 Years Next Year” in BroadView, Says Georgia, Declining to Share Her Last Name. “And it was clean when I moved here, and it’s clean now, and it is quiet here.”

She likes how thompson is speaking out. Saw Her First News Conference About the Immigration Protests Earlier that Week. The Mayor Urged the Trump Administration to “Stop Unprovoked Chemical Arms Attacks on Peaceful Protests and on Journists.”

Thompson has spoken out Strongly About the effect of Tear Gas and Other Aggressive Tactics on Residents, Cops, Firefighters and Paramedics. Citting Safety Concerns, She Called on Ice to Dismantle an 8-Foot Fence Outside the Facility, Which the Village Says Was illegally Constructed Following Clashes Betime Federal Agents and Proteters. Late Friday, The Village Filed a Lawsuit Against the dhs and ice to get the fence dismantled, howing it is blocking fire department Access to Businesses on the Same Street as the Ice Facility. ICE “Has Refused,“ Accity to the Suite, Notting that Officers have alledly been assaulted by protests.

Resident Arnettra Westbrooks Wants Her Mayor to Do More. She would like thompson to institute a Curfew on protests “Because there’s a lot of senior citizens living around there.”

“On Fridays they are there UNIL 10 or 11 O’Clock and All That’s Doing is Pissing Ice off. Go Home,” She Says.

The Criticism is Mild Compared to Some of the Insults Cropping Up from Across the Country From Trump Supporters and Other Critics on Thompson’s Facebook Page.

Finding Sorace and Inspiration

The Last Few Weeks Have Brought “Real Heavy Days,” The Mayor Says, and She Worlds Escalated Violence at the Facility Will Lead to Severe Injuries or Worsse.

But as Thompson Continue to Find Her Footing on a Bigger Stage, The Faithful Baptist Says Has Seen Signs of Encouragement from Guardian Angels – Her Sister, WHO DED 2011, and Her GrandParents.

The Other Day an Orange and Black Butterfly Flew Across 25th Avenue, “Something i’ve Never Seen Across a Major Street,” Thompson Sayys, Adding that she “Likes Butterflies, Becuses it a Real Birth.”

She thanked her sister, rolisha, for what she saw as “confirmation that i’m gonna be ok.” She Also Heard Her Grandma’s Voice in Her Head.

“My Grandmother was like ‘just stand.

Contribing: Bob Chiariito