‘Concerning': Melissa Hortman's assassination raises alarms over political violence
'I'm incredibly concerned, the details of this story are honestly one of the most chilling things I've ever read,' Mr Polumbo said.
'It would be one thing if it was an outlier incident, if it was the only example of political violence in years, but we just see example after example recently in the US.
'It's disturbing, we need to say enough is enough.'
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Sydney Morning Herald
5 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘Bloodthirsty criminals': Trump seizes control of Washington police, deploys National Guard
Trump's team issued charts alleging Washington had a higher homicide rate than Baghdad, Bogotá and Mexico City, which the president branded 'the worst places on earth'. Like many US cities, Washington has historically had problems with homicide, robbery, carjacking, assault and other crimes. There have been high-profile examples this year: the shooting of Israeli embassy staffers Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky outside the Capital Jewish Museum in May, or last week, the bashing of a prominent Department of Government Efficiency aide, Edward Coristine, also known as 'Big Balls'. But statistics from the DC Metropolitan Police show violent crime is trending down after spiking during the COVID-19 pandemic and into 2023. So far in 2025, homicides are down 12 per cent compared with this time in 2024, assault with a dangerous weapon is down 20 per cent, and robbery is down 28 per cent. DC Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, said Trump's view of Washington was coloured by the experience of his first term amid the Black Lives Matter protests and later COVID crime wave. 'It was true that those were more challenging times,' she said. 'We have been able to reverse that 2023 crime spike. Crime isn't just down from 2023, it's also down from 2019. We're at a 30-year violent crime low, [but] we're not satisfied, we haven't taken our foot off the gas.' The District of Columbia, home to the federal government and national monuments, occupies an unusual place in the union. The US Constitution gives Congress power over the 'seat of government', but the bulk of that was delegated to a city council under the Home Rule Act of 1973. Despite being more populous than two US states, DC has no voting representation in Congress, only a non-voting delegate in the House of Representatives. The Home Rule Act allows the president to take over the DC police in emergencies for up to 30 days, after which he would need congressional approval. Trump has appointed the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Terry Cole, as interim police chief, and jokingly warned he would sack Cole in two weeks if he was 'too soft'. George Derek Musgrove, a historian at the University of Maryland who wrote a book on Washington's history, said the present circumstances did not constitute a real emergency – but Trump did have the power to decide. 'Unfortunately, for the city's sake, the law leaves the determination of whether the city is experiencing an emergency or not to the president,' Musgrove told this masthead. 'The president has already shown his willingness to lie about conditions on the ground in the city to get his way.' Novak, a lawyer and registered Democrat who is still recovering from his injuries sustained in May, is against Trump taking over the police and deploying the Guard. He said it was ironic that Congress had cut $US1 billion ($1.54 billion) from DC's budget just as Trump was pressuring the district to get tougher on crime. 'It seems like they're trying to create an emergency that they want to use federal force to solve,' he said. 'Historically, this is what fascist governments have done – take national control over enforcement that's supposed to be at the local level. That's very scary.' When Novak was attacked, the police were nearby – out of sight, but close enough to hear his screams. But the neighbours who came to his aid were more helpful than the officers, he said. He believes better police training is warranted, not brute force. 'I still go out. I still generally feel safe when I go out,' he said. 'Like any city, there are areas that could be improved. But overall, I'm very proud to live in the district, and feel that it already is a very beautiful city – despite whatever's on the news that they're trying to magnify.' Hakeem Jeffries, the leader of the Democrats in the House of Representatives, also invoked the spectre of the January 6 riots, in which Trump's supporters stormed the US Capitol in a bid to overturn the result of the 2020 election – encouraged by the outgoing president.
The Age
5 hours ago
- The Age
‘Bloodthirsty criminals': Trump seizes control of Washington police, deploys National Guard
Trump's team issued charts alleging Washington had a higher homicide rate than Baghdad, Bogotá and Mexico City, which the president branded 'the worst places on earth'. Like many US cities, Washington has historically had problems with homicide, robbery, carjacking, assault and other crimes. There have been high-profile examples this year: the shooting of Israeli embassy staffers Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky outside the Capital Jewish Museum in May, or last week, the bashing of a prominent Department of Government Efficiency aide, Edward Coristine, also known as 'Big Balls'. But statistics from the DC Metropolitan Police show violent crime is trending down after spiking during the COVID-19 pandemic and into 2023. So far in 2025, homicides are down 12 per cent compared with this time in 2024, assault with a dangerous weapon is down 20 per cent, and robbery is down 28 per cent. DC Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, said Trump's view of Washington was coloured by the experience of his first term amid the Black Lives Matter protests and later COVID crime wave. 'It was true that those were more challenging times,' she said. 'We have been able to reverse that 2023 crime spike. Crime isn't just down from 2023, it's also down from 2019. We're at a 30-year violent crime low, [but] we're not satisfied, we haven't taken our foot off the gas.' The District of Columbia, home to the federal government and national monuments, occupies an unusual place in the union. The US Constitution gives Congress power over the 'seat of government', but the bulk of that was delegated to a city council under the Home Rule Act of 1973. Despite being more populous than two US states, DC has no voting representation in Congress, only a non-voting delegate in the House of Representatives. The Home Rule Act allows the president to take over the DC police in emergencies for up to 30 days, after which he would need congressional approval. Trump has appointed the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Terry Cole, as interim police chief, and jokingly warned he would sack Cole in two weeks if he was 'too soft'. George Derek Musgrove, a historian at the University of Maryland who wrote a book on Washington's history, said the present circumstances did not constitute a real emergency – but Trump did have the power to decide. 'Unfortunately, for the city's sake, the law leaves the determination of whether the city is experiencing an emergency or not to the president,' Musgrove told this masthead. 'The president has already shown his willingness to lie about conditions on the ground in the city to get his way.' Novak, a lawyer and registered Democrat who is still recovering from his injuries sustained in May, is against Trump taking over the police and deploying the Guard. He said it was ironic that Congress had cut $US1 billion ($1.54 billion) from DC's budget just as Trump was pressuring the district to get tougher on crime. 'It seems like they're trying to create an emergency that they want to use federal force to solve,' he said. 'Historically, this is what fascist governments have done – take national control over enforcement that's supposed to be at the local level. That's very scary.' When Novak was attacked, the police were nearby – out of sight, but close enough to hear his screams. But the neighbours who came to his aid were more helpful than the officers, he said. He believes better police training is warranted, not brute force. 'I still go out. I still generally feel safe when I go out,' he said. 'Like any city, there are areas that could be improved. But overall, I'm very proud to live in the district, and feel that it already is a very beautiful city – despite whatever's on the news that they're trying to magnify.' Hakeem Jeffries, the leader of the Democrats in the House of Representatives, also invoked the spectre of the January 6 riots, in which Trump's supporters stormed the US Capitol in a bid to overturn the result of the 2020 election – encouraged by the outgoing president.
7NEWS
6 hours ago
- 7NEWS
Trump slammed as he seizes Washington DC police force and deploys national guard
US President Donald Trump is deploying 800 National Guard troops to Washington DC, and putting the city's police department under federal control, an extraordinary assertion of presidential power in the nation's capital. Trump's move, which bypassed the city's elected leaders, was emblematic of his approach to his presidency, wielding executive authority in ways that have little precedent in modern US history and in defiance of political norms. The president cast his actions as necessary to 'rescue' Washington from what he described as a wave of lawlessness, despite statistics showing that violent crime hit a 30-year low in 2024 and has continued to decline this year. 'I'm deploying the National Guard to help re-establish law, order and public safety in Washington, DC,' Trump told a news conference at the White House. It is the second time this summer that the Republican president has deployed troops to a Democrat-governed city. Trump sent thousands of National Guard troops to Los Angeles in June over the objections of state and local officials. And Trump signalled at his news conference that another major US city with Democratic leadership could be next - Chicago, where violent crime was down significantly in the first half of the year. 'If we need to, we're going to do the same thing in Chicago, which is a disaster,' Trump said at the White House, adding, 'Hopefully LA is watching.' Trump has shown particular interest in taking over Washington, which is under the jurisdiction of Congress but exercises self-governance under a 1973 US law. Hundreds of officers and agents from more than a dozen federal agencies, including the FBI, ICE, DEA and ATF, have fanned out across the city in recent days. Attorney General Pam Bondi will oversee the police force takeover, Trump said. The Democratic mayor of Washington, Muriel Bowser, has pushed back on Trump's claims of unchecked violence, saying the city is 'not experiencing a crime spike' and highlighting that violent crime hit its lowest level in more than three decades last year. Violent crime, including murders, spiked in 2023, turning Washington into one of the nation's deadliest cities. Since then, however, violent crime dropped 35 per cent in 2024, according to federal data, and it has fallen an additional 26 per cent in the first seven months of 2025, according to city police. The city's attorney general, Brian Schwalb, called Trump's actions 'unprecedented, unnecessary and unlawful' in an X post, and said his office was 'considering all of our options'. 'Donald Trump has no basis to take over the local police department. And zero credibility on the issue of law and order. Get lost,' House of Representatives Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries wrote on X. Over the past week, Trump has intensified his messaging, suggesting he might attempt to strip the city of its local autonomy and implement a full federal takeover. The District of Columbia, established in 1790, operates under the Home Rule Act, which gives Congress ultimate authority but allows residents to elect a mayor and city council. Trump said last week that lawyers are examining how to overturn the law, a move that would likely require Congress to revoke it. In taking over the Metropolitan Police Department, Trump invoked a section of the act that allows the president to use force for 30 days when 'special conditions of an emergency nature' exist. Trump said he was declaring a 'public safety emergency' in the city. Under the statute, presidential control is 'designed to be a temporary emergency measure, not a permanent takeover,' University of Minnesota law professor Jill Hasday said.
