Trump Deploys Federal Officers in D.C.—Even As Crime Falls
The White House on Thursday announced the deployment of federal officers for at least a week, saying after seven days it may 'extend' the operation 'as needed.'
'Washington, DC is an amazing city, but it has been plagued by violent crime for far too long,' White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to news outlets. 'President Trump has directed an increased presence of federal law enforcement to protect innocent citizens. Starting tonight, there will be no safe harbor for violent criminals in D.C.'
The move came after Trump decried what he called 'totally out of control' crime in D.C. and threatened to federalize the city, following news that a Department of Government Efficiency staffer was assaulted during an attempted carjacking.
'We have a capital that's very unsafe,' the President said to reporters earlier this week. 'We have to run D.C.'
According to city police data last updated Friday, however, violent crime in D.C. is down by 26% so far this year compared to 2024. And in January, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia said that, last year, total violent crime in D.C. fell to 'the lowest it has been in over 30 years.'
D.C., which has a heavily Democratic population and has consistently voted both for Democratic mayors and presidential tickets for decades, has frequently attracted criticism from Trump and other Republican politicians. Some other GOP lawmakers have pushed to establish federal control over the city, which was granted a greater degree of self-governance under the District of Columbia Home Rule Act of 1973, but is still subject to congressional oversight and legislative review.
Personnel from various agencies will be involved in the federal law enforcement operation directed by the President, including U.S. Capitol Police, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Drug Enforcement Administration, among others, according to The Associated Press. The increased officer presence will be focused on 'high traffic tourist areas,' POLITICO reported.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms' Washington Field Division said in a post on X early Friday morning that its agents were 'out ensuring that the residents of the District of Columbia are safer this evening,' along with federal law enforcement partners. It mentioned several other federal agency accounts, including from the U.S. Park Police, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the FBI, and the U.S. Marshals.
Eleanor Holmes Norton, D.C.'s non-voting representative in Congress, criticized the move to increase federal law enforcement in D.C. in a statement to news outlets.
'Sending in the FBI, DEA, Homeland Security officers and others throughout the District in response to an assault where the existing police presence was sufficient to catch two assailants as they were leaving the scene is a disproportionate overreaction that's offensive to D.C.,' Norton said. 'Moreover, this needless escalation will heighten tensions and potentially make D.C., which achieved its lowest violent crime rate in 30 years in 2024, less safe.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNN
13 minutes ago
- CNN
IRS begins sharing sensitive taxpayer data with immigration authorities to find undocumented migrants
The Internal Revenue Service began sharing sensitive taxpayer data this week with immigration authorities searching for undocumented migrants, according to two sources familiar with the matter. As part of President Donald Trump's massive deportation push, the Treasury Department and the Department of Homeland Security signed an agreement in April to turn over information about undocumented immigrants who DHS says are already facing deportation orders and are under federal criminal investigation. While the IRS has disclosed sensitive tax data previously for specific reasons allowable under privacy law, the agency has never shared such large volumes of data with any agency for the sole purpose of large-scale immigration enforcement. The records include personal information like names, addresses and tax data of immigrants, which will enable DHS to confirm the home addresses and location for individuals it says are facing final orders of removal or who are the subjects of federal criminal investigations. The data sharing started this week after a 'push' from the Trump administration to get it underway, one of the sources said. It comes after months of tension within IRS over the plans and internal concerns from career officials about the legality of the collaboration. The chaos led to the resignation or impending departure of several senior IRS officials earlier this year, CNN previously reported. The start of the data sharing also comes as Trump is ousting Billy Long from his role as IRS commissioner, CNN reported earlier Friday. One of the sources told CNN that Immigration and Customs Enforcement asked for personal information for 1.23 million people it suspects are in the country illegally but only a small fraction, less than 5%, was shared because the data ICE sent IRS did not have exact matching data to confirm the individuals they were looking for. 'Less than 5% isn't what they were hoping for,' the source said. The White House was not happy with the number of records shared and called about the lack of data first thing Friday morning, the second source added. In response to CNN's reporting, a White House spokeswoman said, 'The Trump Administration is working together to implement President Trump's executive order to stop waste, fraud, and abuse by eliminating information silos and to prevent illegal aliens from taking advantage of benefits meant for hardworking American taxpayers. Any absurd assertion other than everyone being aligned on the mission is simply false and total fake news.' CNN has reached out to DHS and Treasury for comment. CNN previously reported in April, DHS officials told the IRS they need access to its data to help them locate up to 7 million suspected undocumented immigrants – an eye-popping figure that 'shocked' IRS employees. The IRS has addresses for undocumented immigrants because many register with the agency and pay billions of dollars in taxes each year – in exchange for their data staying confidential in most circumstances. Tax information has generally been closely held within the IRS, but strict privacy laws outline some exceptions – for example, the data may be shared with law enforcement agencies for investigation and prosecution of non-tax criminal laws. However, it's unclear if DHS has provided the IRS with evidence that all 7 million individuals they are hoping to locate using IRS data are under investigation or face prosecution for non-tax criminal laws. Undocumented immigrants are often urged to register with the IRS and pay their federal taxes because it makes them look like law-abiding residents and could aid their immigration case. Lawyers who represent immigrant groups have argued that the IRS/DHS data sharing deal means the IRS has gone back on its duty to protect taxpayer information from improper disclosure and will open the door for federal law enforcement to gain access to confidential taxpayer information without obtaining a court order as required by law.
Epoch Times
14 minutes ago
- Epoch Times
Democratic Mayors Say Community-Based Strategies Are Driving Crime Down
Democratic mayors in several large U.S. cities say violent crime has declined on their watch and credit a mix of policing and community-based strategies for the trend. In a virtual discussion hosted by the Democratic Mayors Association and the Vera Action Institute last week, mayors from Cleveland, Chicago, Baltimore, and Newark described investments in youth employment, mental health services, and violence interruption programs that they say are making neighborhoods safer. Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb said his administration has pursued an 'all of government' approach since taking office nearly three years ago. 'Since I took office nearly three years ago, we've seen a nearly 46 percent reduction in homicides, while investing in law enforcement, we're also investing in non-violence interventions,' Bibb said. 'And the mayors on the call today from Newark, Chicago, and Baltimore… are seeing the same results in their respective city.' Bibb credited the city's Raising Investment in Safety for Everyone Initiative, expansion of technology such as a camera-sharing program and ShotSpotter gunshot detection, and changes to police recruitment and pay. In February, the Major Cities Chiefs Association, an independent law enforcement group representing the police departments of the largest cities in the United States and Canada, issued a report that also showed an across-the-board decline in violent crime in the United States from 2023 to 2024. It also showed that most violent crimes, including homicide, had decreased in Cleveland from 2023 to 2024. However, there were nearly 100 more reported cases of rape in the Ohio city, according to the report.
Fox News
16 minutes ago
- Fox News
Montana bar shooting suspect could return to town, state AG says, citing 'concern for the public'
The fugitive Army veteran who allegedly shot and killed four people at a bar in Montana could return to the town where the "heinous" crime unfolded, posing a "concern for the public," the state's attorney general is warning. The whereabouts of Michael Brown, 45, remain unknown Monday following the Friday morning shooting at The Owl Bar in Anaconda, which claimed the lives of residents Daniel Edwin Baillie, 59, Nancy Lauretta Kelley, 64, David Allen Leach, 70 and Tony Wayne Palm, 74. "We've got tremendous cooperation from Homeland Security, from our federal partners, the FBI, the U.S. Marshal Service. We want to find this guy. This is a dangerous individual who has committed an absolutely heinous crime against this community and these victims," Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen said. "Absolutely there [are] concerns he might come back into town. By all indications, this is an unstable individual who walked in and murdered four people in cold blood for no reason whatsoever. So there absolutely is concern for the public," Knudsen added. Authorities released a photo of Brown on Saturday, showing him barefoot and shirtless, walking down a flight of steps. The image depicted Brown wearing black shorts and fleeing after the shooting Friday, according to the state's Department of Criminal Investigation (DCI). It is unclear what led to the shooting, but Knudsen said investigators believed Brown used one of his own personal rifles in the attack. "I want to offer our deepest and sincere condolences to the community of Anaconda and to the family and friends of these victims. This is just absolutely horrific," Knudsen said. "Something like we haven't seen in the state of Montana and thankfully we do not see these things very often in the state of Montana." Brown was an armor crewman in the Army from January 2001 to May 2005, Army Public Affairs confirmed to Fox News Digital. He deployed to Iraq from February 2004 to March 2005 and left the service with the rank of sergeant. He also served as an armor crewman in the Montana National Guard from April 2006 to March 2009, officials said. Knudsen said at one point this weekend, over 250 boots were on the ground in the manhunt for Brown. "We're exploring every option here. Could he have committed suicide or be dead? Yep. But we are acting under the assumption that he is alive, well-armed, and extremely dangerous," Knudsen added.
