Washington residents accuse Trump of 'overstepping' his authority
The president announced Monday that Washington's Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) will now be under the control of Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Department of Justice (DOJ). In addition, Trump deployed 800 National Guard troops to the district in order to 'rescue our nation's capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor and worse.'
The forces were expected to take over DC this week and work in shifts to defend the capital from violence around the clock. In over half a dozen interviews with DC locals, most expressed skepticism over the White House's new initiative while simultaneously telling the Daily Mail that additional resources could help crack down on crime.
'I think it might be an overreaction,' Carson, a young man in his early twenties who just moved to DC, told the Daily Mail. 'I don't think you need like FBI agents to stop violent crime. Their presence is good if the DC police need assistance ... but I don't think they need to really take over,' another resident said of the troop deployments. 'I've been robbed and everything, but that doesn't mean that we need the National Guard.' While many criticized Trump's move as an overreach, some grudgingly shared that there are challenges facing the city.
Jacqueline Turner, a great-grandmother, told the Daily Mail that young people are 'getting kind of outrageous' and sided with Trump on parents being held accountable for their naughty children's bad behavior. 'The young people figure they can do what they want and they're not going to be punished. And that's not right ... Maybe their parents ought to be prosecuted, or ... penalized if they can't control their children and raise them decently,' Turner told the Daily Mail. Mobs of kids in their teens have frequently shown up in popular shopping and dining areas around DC, including the neighborhoods around Navy Yard, the Wharf and downtown, according to local reports.
Still, Jacqueline called Trump's move to bring in the National Guard 'ridiculous.' 'He wants to take control of DC,' John, another resident, said. 'Crime has been down as far as I know.' MPD statistics do show that violent crime is down year over year, but many locals still fret over high-profile incidents, like the recent fatal shooting of a congressional intern, a tragedy the president has spoken about. 'Of course, you're going to take precautionary measures,' John added. 'You're going to make sure that you're vigilant about where you're walking.'
Recently, a high-profile former DOGE employee Edward Coristine, nicknamed 'Big Balls,' was mugged in DC while out on the town. The assailants severely beat the ex-DOGE aide leaving him bloodied, according to reports. Trump said he was lucky to be alive, but it didn't move residents to support Trump's action. 'He's using that as this catalyst to militarize DC, which is insanity to me,' Tim, a DC resident of 15 years, told the Daily Mail.
He called Trump's decision to federalize MPD and deploy the National Guard an 'insane overreach.' 'It's completely unnecessary. It's on something that is completely baseless,' Tim added. Others understood the president's perspective. 'He's doing what he feels like he needs to do, but I don't think he's in DC enough to actually know exactly what's going on in our city,' Daniel shared. 'Have I heard gunshots? Yes,' he continued. 'Have I seen someone like get assaulted? No. Have I seen people get in fights? Yes. Do I feel safe here? 100 percent sure.'
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