Clarence Page: Trump's D.C. law enforcement takeover only making matters worse

Chicago Tribune

17 hours ago

When your only tool is a hammer, psychiatrist Abraham Maslow famously observed, all problems begin to look like nails.
That nugget of wisdom comes to mind as President Donald Trump implements his federal takeover of the District of Columbia's police force and the deployment of 800 National Guard, a big hammer against local crime problems in a city he described as 'overrun by violent gangs, blood thirsty criminals, roving mobs of youth, drugged out maniacs and homeless people.'
Saying the troops will be armed and have the ability to conduct arrests if needed, Trump promised to 'have the crime situation solved in D.C. very soon.'
And that's just the beginning, he says, of a wave of similar moves that he wants to implement in Chicago, New York, Baltimore, Oakland and other cities, in accordance with his long-running war on urban crime.
'It has become one of the most dangerous cities anywhere in the World. It will soon be one of the safest!!!' Trump said of the nation's capital in a Saturday Truth Social post, pledging action that will 'essentially, stop violent crime in Washington, D.C.'
Yet, not surprisingly, local reaction to this bizarre project has been mixed In the federal city. While the early days of the action were mostly peaceful, one Justice Department employee was arrested for allegedly throwing a sandwich at a federal law enforcement officer Sunday evening.
Not nice.
According to the District of Columbia U.S. attorney's office, the man who 'forcefully threw' the wrapped hoagie at a Customs and Border Protection officer was himself a (now ex-) employee of the U.S. Department of Justice, Sean Charles Dunn, 37. Dunn allegedly threw the sandwich after pointing his finger at the officer and shouting, 'F— you! You f—ing fascists! Why are you here? I don't want you in my city!'
He was charged with 'assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers and employees of the United States.' After being taken to the cop shop, according to the DOJ, Dunn admitted: 'I did it. I threw a sandwich.'
Attorney General Pam Bondi wasn't going to put up with such nonsense. 'If you touch any law enforcement officer, we will come after you,' Bondi posted on X Thursday. 'This is an example of the Deep State we have been up against for seven months as we work to refocus DOJ.'
Those of us outside the MAGA movement might question how much of a disturbance of the peace sandwich-throwing will cause.
But Trump's crackdown apparently was born on the heels of a more serious crime, an attempted carjacking.
Edward 'Big Balls' Coristine, 19, rose to prominence as a feisty member of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which was put to work slashing the size of the federal bureaucracy after Trump came into office.
Coristine was attacked and bloodied in Washington's Logan Circle neighborhood by a group of teenagers trying to carjack him and a female companion early in the morning on Aug. 3.
A 15-year-old girl and 15-year-old boy were taken to juvenile detention, accused of the assault which, not surprisingly, outraged Trump, who said on Aug. 5, 'somebody from DOGE was very badly hurt last night.' He also shared a photo of a bloodied Coristine on Truth Social, adding, 'If D.C. doesn't get its act together, and quickly, we will have no choice but to take Federal control of the City.'
As a past victim of street crime myself, my sympathies go out to Coristine. I'm glad that a couple of suspects were caught, and I hope they are handled fairly.
But locking up a couple of teens is only a small part of the larger long-term and short-term challenges posed by problems as complex as big-city crime.
I don't believe in 'coddling criminals,' as some conservatives might say. But I do believe in effective law enforcement and sensible crime prevention that can bring and maintain the safe streets we all should be seeking.
As a group of prominent Washington religious leaders said in their joint criticism of Trump's drastic takeover of the District's police force, his typically hyperbolic rhetoric could only make bad matters worse in the fight against crime.
As their joint statement put it, the offenses are serious but won't be helped by the military, 'political theater' or fear-based governance.
No, when your only tool in fighting violence inflames more divisions, you only invite more problems.
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