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UPI
7 hours ago
- Politics
- UPI
Trump announces federal takeover of Washington law enforcement
1 of 4 | President Donald Trump makes a statement in the Press Briefing room Monday. Cabinet members joined the press conference, which lasted more than an hour. Photo by Yuri Gripas/UPI | License Photo Aug. 11 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump announced Monday that the federal government will take over law enforcement in Washington, including deploying the National Guard in the nation's capital. Trump signed an executive order declaring crime an emergency in Washington. Surrounded by Attorney General Pam Bondi, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and other cabinet members, Trump announced in a press conference that the administration intends to crack down on violent crime. "I'm announcing a historic action to rescue our nation's capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor and worse," Trump said in the press conference. "This is Liberation Day in D.C., and we're going to take our capital back." The president said he's invoking section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act. He said the D.C. National Guard will deploy to fight crime, and he said he may deploy units from other states if needed. On Friday, Trump announced that federal agents will begin enforcing crime in the city. The new patrols are led by the U.S. Park Police, and include agents from the U.S. Capitol Police, FBI, U.S. Marshals Service, D.C. Metropolitan Police, Drug Enforcement Administration and other agencies. He announced that Attorney General Pam Bondi will take control of D.C. Metropolitan Police. "Our capital city has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth, drugged out maniacs and homeless people, and we're not going to let it happen anymore," Trump said. Metro police data released this month said violent crime rates have continued to fall in 2025, with violent crime down 26% year-over-year. Homicide rates have dropped 12%, sex abuse by 49%, assault with a dangerous weapon by 20% and robbery by 28%. Trump, however, said, without explicitly identifying the person or providing details on the claim, that the administration was examining a person who claimed he was asked to falsify data. "And we had a recent indication, and there was a story about a man who just left. He quit because he was asked to do phony numbers on crime, and we're going to look into that," he said. "I think Pam [Bondi] is going to be looking into that, but he was asked by the city, I guess we don't want to show the real numbers. Let me do numbers so it looks like it's going down, not going down, and under Biden, it was a disaster, and nobody did anything about it. We're going to do things about it like you wouldn't believe." Trump mentioned that other U.S. cities are struggling with crime and indicated that Washington, won't be the last city that he might take over. "And this will go further. We're starting very strongly with D.C., and we're going to clean it up real quick, very quickly, as they say," he said. "I see too much violent crime being committed by young punks who think that they can get together in gangs and crews and beat the hell out of you or anyone else. They don't care where they are. They can be in Dupont Circle, but they know that we can't touch them. Why? Because the laws are weak. I can't touch you. If you're 14,15, 16,17- years-old, and you have a gun," U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro said. "I convict someone of shooting another person with an illegal gun on a public bus in the chest intent to kill. I convict him. And you know what? The judge gives him probation and says, 'You should go to college.' We need to go after the D.C. council and their absurd laws. We need to get rid of this concept of, you know, no-cash bail." On Sunday evening, a former DOGE employee was allegedly attacked near his car in the district, drawing criticism from the president. Police arrested two 15-year-olds the next day. Pirro mentioned the incident. "I did a poster of the young man from DOGE who was beaten, bloodied, with a severe concussion, a broken nose, and then I did a poster of what happens to those kids, because I can't arrest them. I can't prosecute them. They go to family court, and they get to do yoga and arts and crafts," Pirro said at the press conference.
USA Today
13 hours ago
- Politics
- USA Today
A federal takeover of DC?
Welcome to your week!🙋🏼♀️ I'm Nicole Fallert. Feeling itchy? Hundreds of federal officers deployed to DC streets as homeless pushed out President Donald Trump appears poised on Monday to take federal actions to address crime in Washington. He teased a White House news conference about "Crime and 'Beautification,'" an initiative that will also target homeless individuals in the city. Ahead of the announcement, The White House said 450 officers from multiple federal agencies were deployed in high-traffic D.C. areas and other hotspots over the weekend. The moves come despite the fact violent crime declined by 35% in D.C. in 2024, according to data compiled by the D.C. Metropolitan Police. Zelenskyy rejects conceding land to Russia after Trump suggests 'swapping' territories President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are scheduled to meet this week in Alaska to discuss an end to the three-year Russian war on Ukraine in the first in-person session between the two world leaders since Trump returned to the White House in January More news to know now Buying a new car? Check out USA TODAY's new Cars hub, with reviews, news and more. Authorities have not released a potential motive for CDC shooting Officer David Rose, 33, was the sole casualty after a shooter opened fire on Centers for Disease Control buildings near Emory University in Atlanta on Friday. The suspected gunman was found dead on the second story of a building housing a CVS and died at the scene from a gunshot wound. It was unclear if it came from officers or was self-inflicted. Rose joined the DeKalb Police Department in September 2024 and served in the North-Central Precinct, officials have said. He was a father of two with a third child on the way, county officials said. How Texas Democrats are living on the run ~ Texas state legislator John Bucy to USA TODAY about his self-imposed exodus from his family. Bucy is among the more than 50 Democratic lawmakers who've fled the Lone Star State to thwart President Donald Trump's effort to protect his razor-thin Republican majority in Congress. He packed his suitcase to be gone for 30 days – maybe longer. Today's talkers A Pennsylvania softball team versus the world Pennsylvania made its first Little League Softball World Series championship game appearance since 2018, and the West Suburban LL squad did not disappoint. Johnstown, representing the Mid-Atlantic region, recorded four consecutive shutout wins to end the tournament and capture the 2025 LLSWS championship 1-0 over Floyds Knobs, Indiana, which was representing the Central region. The victory marks the first Little League Softball World Series title for a team from Pennsylvania since 1978. Photo of the day: Meet Hezly Rivera Hezly Rivera served notice that she's going to be a gymnast to watch in the leadup to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games. The 17-year-old won her first title at the U.S. gymnastics championships on Sunday night, establishing herself as a favorite for the all-around at the world championships this fall. Nicole Fallert is a newsletter writer at USA TODAY, sign up for the email here. Want to send Nicole a note? Shoot her an email at NFallert@
CBS News
12-06-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Police officers file civil lawsuit seeking court order to hang Jan. 6 plaque at U.S. Capitol
Two police officers who defended the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021 attack filed a federal civil lawsuit, asking a judge to order the hanging of a plaque to honor police heroes who protected the Capitol, lawmakers and staff from rioters. The lawsuit cites a 2022 law signed by President Biden that required the honorary plaque be hung by March 2023. The plaque has been completed and in storage since at least last year, but GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson has not committed to installing it at the Capitol. The dispute over the plaque has angered victims and inflamed a politically divisive issue on Capitol Hill. Republican leaders, who control the administration of the Capitol complex, have not honored requests by some officers and Democratic colleagues to hang the plaque, as required under federal law. In their lawsuit, former Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn and D.C. Metropolitan Police Officer Daniel Hodges argue President Trump has spun conspiracy theories about Jan. 6, that have been adopted by his Republican allies in Congress. "After Congress passed the law, the politics of January 6 began to change. Donald Trump began to call the attack on the Capitol a 'day of love,' and said that 'the cops should be charged and the protesters should be freed," the lawsuit said. "As Trump's political fortunes rebounded, elected officials began to parrot his claims about the day." The lawsuit argues the failure to hang the plaque violates the Equal Protection clause of the Constitution. It also contends the Aarchitect of the Capitol, who helps manage the facilities and grounds of the Capitol, has failed to complete a required duty under the 2022 law. "There seems to be no indication that congressional leadership is going to install this without judicial intervention," said attorney Brendan Ballou, who has helped with crafting the lawsuit.. Ballou, a former Justice Department prosecutor who handled Jan. 6 criminal cases and resigned from the agency earlier this year, also told CBS News, "Congress was required by law to install this plaque to honor the officers that defended the Capitol and those inside on Jan. 6. They have not done so, and they have not done so two years past the legal deadline." In the civil lawsuit, the officers argue, "While Congress has installed a memorial to other officers who died in a different tragedy, it has not installed the plaque to honor those who defended the Capitol on January 6. Meanwhile, though Congress has not installed the memorial to the officers who defended it, members have managed to honor the man who inspired the violence." "Since President Trump's inauguration, bills have been introduced to make his birthday a federal holiday, to rename Dulles International Airport after him, to put his face on the $100 bill (or to create a new $250 bill in his honor), and to carve his face into Mount Rushmore," the lawsuit said. It's been filed in the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia, where more than 1,500 Capitol riot criminal cases were filed. A judge has not yet been assigned, from among the nearly two dozen federal judges on the D.C. federal court. For now, the plaque remains in storage on the Capitol grounds, according to multiple sources who spoke with CBS News. The delay in hanging the plaque has fueled broader disputes and anger over Trump's controversial pardons of more than 1,500 Capitol riot defendants, and the lack of statements by Republican House members commemorating the four-year mark of the assault on the Capitol in January. In a statement during a service honoring police in May, Rep. Dan Goldman, a New York Democrat, said the plaque "is still sitting in storage because Republican leadership refuses to act. Until they condemn these pardons and honor these officers, their hollow words of support for law enforcement are meaningless." Rep. Joe Morelle, a New York Democrat who is the ranking member on the Committee on House Administration, has pushed unsuccessfully to get the the plaque installed. A spokesperson for the Johnson did not immediately return requests for comment from CBS News. Johnson has been previously pressed by reporters and colleagues about the delay in hanging the plaque, but has remained silent on a timeline for hanging the honorary marker.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Israeli Embassy suspect charged with murder of a foreign official
The man accused of killing two Israeli Embassy staffers outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., was on Thursday charged with murder of foreign officials and other charges, according to court filings. Elias Rodriguez, 31, made his first court appearance a day after allegedly gunning down a young couple who worked for the embassy — Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, 26 — after an event at the museum Wednesday night. Police officials said he shouted 'free, free Palestine' following his arrest. He faces five charges, including two counts of first-degree murder, causing the death of a person through the use of a firearm and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence, a criminal complaint shows. U.S. Magistrate Judge Matthew Sharbaugh informed Rodriguez that some of the charges against him carry the death penalty or life in prison if he is convicted. Wearing a white jumpsuit but unshackled, Rodriguez was informed of his rights and appointed a public defender, Elizabeth Mullin, to represent him. He seemed attentive and at one point scanned the gallery. No plea was entered, and a preliminary hearing was set for June 18. Rodriguez did not object to remaining detained as the case moves forward, for now. The case is being prosecuted by Jeffrey Nestler, a veteran of the U.S. attorney's office in D.C. who handled the seditious conspiracy trial of the Oath Keepers and other high-profile Jan. 6 cases. Police said Rodriguez, of Chicago, approached a group of four people leaving an event at the museum shortly after 9 p.m. Wednesday. He fired at close range, killing Lischinsky and Milgrim, before walking into the museum, where he was apprehended. In an interview with D.C. Metropolitan Police detectives, following the attack, Rodriguez 'expressed admiration' for airman Aaron Bushnell, who in February 2024 self-immolated in front of the Israeli Embassy in Washington as a form of protest meant to draw attention to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to an FBI affidavit. Rodriguez labeled him a 'martyr,' the affidavit said. He flew into Reagan National Airport on Tuesday and declared a firearm in his checked baggage, according to the affidavit. The attack drew sharp rebuke from U.S. and global leaders. Both President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decried the killings as the result of antisemitism. 'These horrible D.C. killings, based obviously on antisemitism, must end, NOW!' Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social early Thursday morning. Netanyahu called the deaths 'the terrible price of anti-Semitism and wild incitement against the State of Israel.' The FBI previously said early indications are that the shooting was a targeted act of violence. The victims were soon set to be engaged, according to Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter. He told reporters that Lischinsky had purchased a ring and planned to propose in Jerusalem next week. —Zach Schonfeld contributed to this post, which was updated at 5:34 p.m. EDT. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
