Chicago, Illinois - Illinois Governor JB Pritzker has slammed Donald Trump's response to the shooting of Charlie Kirk as fears grow among immigrant communities under threat.

After a roundtable discussion on Monday at Harold Washington College in Chicago, Pritzker spoke out about the "genuine fear that our people and our communities are living with right now" amid Donald Trump's mass detention and deportation campaign.

"People are frightened about the potential of military troops coming to our neighborhoods. People are fearful of masked men in unmarked vans who could grab them on a street corner because of how they look or how they sound," the governor said.

"People are scared to go to work. They're scared to take their kids to school. They're scared to go to school themselves or to go shopping."

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Pritzker added that the killing of prominent far-right figure Charlie Kirk and the feared backlash had added to the anxiety many are experiencing.

"This is a moment when Americans must come together and say clearly that threats and political violence are not the answer," Pritzker urged. "Democracy is designed precisely to avoid political violence, and it's now incumbent upon leaders of all stripes to work together to stop it."

The Democratic leader went on to accuse Trump of "actively fann[ing] the flames" of political divisions in the country in the wake of the shooting.

The president has blamed what he calls the "radical left" for Kirk's killing and vowed retribution against left-leaning political groups.

"This is a watershed moment in our country," Pritzker said. "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."