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American Press
3 hours ago
- Politics
- American Press
Trump's takeover of Washington law enforcement begins as National Guard troops arrive
The new picture of law enforcement in the nation's capital began taking shape Tuesday as some of the 800 National Guard members deployed by the Trump administration began arriving as police and federal officials took the first steps in a partnership to reduce crime in what President Donald Trump called a lawless city. The influx came the morning after the Republican president announced he would be activating the guard members and taking over the District's police department, something the law allows him to do temporarily. He cited a crime emergency — but referred to the same crime that city officials stress is already falling noticeably. Mayor Muriel Bowser pledged to work alongside the federal officials Trump has tasked with overseeing the city's law enforcement, while insisting the police chief remained in charge of the department and its officers. 'How we got here or what we think about the circumstances — right now we have more police, and we want to make sure we use them,' she told reporters. The tone was a shift from the day before, when Bowser said Trump's plan to take over the Metropolitan Police Department and call in the National Guard was not a productive step and argued his perceived state of emergency simply doesn't match the declining crime numbers. Still, the law gives the federal government more sway over the capital city than in U.S. states, and Bowser said her administration's ability to push back is limited. Attorney General Pam Bondi posted on social media that the meeting was productive. The law allows Trump to take over the D.C. police for up to 30 days, though White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt suggested it could last longer as authorities later 'reevaluate and reassess.' Extending federal control past that time would require Congressional approval, something likely tough to achieve in the face of Democratic resistance. About 850 federal law enforcement officers were deployed in Washington on Monday and arrested 23 people overnight, Leavitt said. The charges, she said, included gun and drug crimes, drunk driving, subway fare evasion and homicide. The U.S. Park Police has also removed 70 homeless encampments. People who were living in them can leave, go to a homeless shelter or go into drug addiction treatment, Leavitt said. Those who refuse could face fines or jail time. The city and Trump have had a bumpy relationship While Trump invokes his plan by saying that 'we're going to take our capital back,' Bowser and the MPD maintain that violent crime overall in Washington has decreased to a 30-year low after a sharp rise in 2023. Carjackings, for example, dropped about 50% in 2024 and are down again this year. More than half of those arrested, however, are juveniles, and the extent of those punishments is a point of contention for the Trump administration. Bowser, a Democrat, spent much of Trump's first term in office openly sparring with the Republican president. She fended off his initial plans for a military parade through the streets and stood in public opposition when he called in a multi-agency flood of federal law enforcement to confront anti-police brutality protesters in summer 2020. She later had the words 'Black Lives Matter' painted in giant yellow letters on the street about a block from the White House. In Trump's second term, backed by Republican control of both houses of Congress, Bowser has walked a public tightrope for months, emphasizing common ground with the Trump administration on issues such as the successful effort to bring the NFL's Washington Commanders back to the District of Columbia. She watched with open concern for the city streets as Trump finally got his military parade this summer. Her decision to dismantle Black Lives Matter Plaza earlier this year served as a neat metaphor for just how much the power dynamics between the two executives had evolved. Now that fraught relationship enters uncharted territory as Trump has followed through on months of what many D.C. officials had quietly hoped were empty threats. The new standoff has cast Bowser in a sympathetic light, even among her longtime critics. 'It's a power play and we're an easy target,' said Clinique Chapman, CEO of the D.C. Justice Lab. A frequent critic of Bowser, whom she accuses of 'over policing our youth' with the recent expansions of Washington's youth curfew, Chapman said Trump's latest move 'is not about creating a safer D.C. It's just about power.' Where the power actually lies Bowser contends that all the power resides with Trump and that local officials can do little other than comply and make the best of it. As long as Washington remains a federal enclave with limited autonomy under the 1973 Home Rule Act, she said, it will remain vulnerable to such takeovers. Trump is the first president to use the law's Section 740 to take over Washington's police for up to 30 days during times of emergencies. For Trump, the effort to take over public safety in D.C. reflects an escalation of his aggressive approach to law enforcement. The District of Columbia's status as a congressionally established federal district gives him a unique opportunity to push his tough-on-crime agenda, though he has not proposed solutions to the root causes of homelessness or crime. Trump's declaration of a state of emergency fits the general pattern of his second term in office. He has declared states of emergency on issues ranging from border protection to economic tariffs, enabling him to essentially rule via executive order. In many cases, he has moved forward while the courts sorted them out. Bowser's claims about successfully driving down violent crime rates received backing earlier this year from an unlikely source. Ed Martin, Trump's original choice for U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, issued a press release in April hailing a 25% drop in violent crime rates from the previous year. His recently confirmed replacement candidate, former judge and former Fox News host Jeanine Pirro, brushed aside the data to argue that violent crime remains a significant issue for victims. 'These were vibrant human beings cut down because of illegal guns,' she said.
Time Magazine
a day ago
- Politics
- Time Magazine
Trump to Deploy More Federal Forces on Washington, D.C.
President Donald Trump is expected on Monday to announce plans to use federal resources to crack down on crime in Washington, D.C., and remove homeless people from the city's public spaces, a move that local leaders are condemning as an overriding of local control of the city based on false pretenses. Data show that violent crime in the nation's capital is down significantly from a peak in 2023. But Trump paints a different picture. Trump described Washington as 'one of the most dangerous cities anywhere in the World' in a post on Truth Social Saturday. On Sunday, Trump wrote, 'I'm going to make our Capital safer and more beautiful than it ever was before. The Homeless have to move out, IMMEDIATELY. We will give you places to stay, but FAR from the Capital.' In recent days, Trump has deployed federal officers from the U.S. Park Police, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and the U.S. Marshals Service on night patrols in D.C., according to ATF's X account. The President is scheduled to announce his latest plans for Washington at a press conference scheduled for 10 a.m. When asked about what actions Trump was planning, a White House official replied, "Tune in." Trump has considered deploying the National Guard in Washington, D.C. to address crime. If he follows through, it would be a rare use of military forces on U.S. soil and a potential violation of the Posse Comitatus Act that restricts the military from being used as a police force for domestic law enforcement. During racial justice protests in June 2020, Trump sent uniformed National Guard troops to Lafayette Park in front of the White House to help clear the park of protestors. Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, said on MSNBC on Sunday that Trump's statements comparing the capital to a 'war-torn country' are 'hyperbolic and false.' According to city police data, violent crime in D.C. is down by 26% so far in 2025 compared to the year before. Trump's focus on public safety in the capital comes after former U.S. DOGE Service software engineer Edward Coristine, who is known by the nickname 'Big Balls,' was injured during an alleged carjacking in DC early in the morning on Aug. 3.
The Herald Scotland
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
Trump teases DC crime initiative, orders homeless to move out ASAP
In a series of social media posts, Trump said he would unveil his initiative on Aug. 11, adding it would address the city's crime and the "Cleanliness and the General Physical Renovation and Condition of our once beautiful and well maintained Capital." The president threatened to "take Federal control" of Washington, D.C., in an Aug. 5 post complaining about crime. The post came after Edward Coristine, a 19-year-old former employee of the Department of Government Efficiency nicknamed "BigBalls," was assaulted in an attempted carjacking. "Crime in Washington, D.C., is totally out of control," Trump said on Aug. 5, adding: "If this continues, I am going to exert my powers, and FEDERALIZE this City." Days later, Trump ordered an increased federal law enforcement presence on D.C. streets, led by officers from U.S. Park Police and including officers from about a dozen other agencies. Cruel and unusual punishment?: In major decision, Supreme Court allows cities to ban homeless camps Violent crime declined by 35% in D.C. in 2024, according to data compiled by the D.C. Metropolitan Police. The 2024 numbers marked the lowest level of violent crime in "over 30 years," the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia said in a news release. Homicides dropped by 32%, robberies were down 39% and armed carjackings were down 53%. Violent crime has declined so far in 2025, according to police data. Homicides and robberies are down 12% and 28%, respectively, while total violent crime is down 26% through Aug. 8 when compared with the same period in 2024. Homicides spiked in D.C. in 2023 to 274, up from 203 the year before, before dropping down to 187 in 2024, according to police data. That is the lowest level since the city had 166 homicides in 2019. There have been 99 homicides in 2025, compared to 112 during the same period last year. Trump has long denigrated Washington, D.C, which leans heavily Democratic. He also floated taking over governance of the district in February in comments to reporters, complaining about crime and homelessness. Contributing: Joey Garrison, USA TODAY
Boston Globe
2 days ago
- Politics
- Boston Globe
FBI moves to dispatch 120 agents to D.C. streets as Trump vows crackdown on crime
The deployment of FBI agents to deal with local crime puts agents from the bureau's counterintelligence, public corruption and other divisions with minimal training in traffic stops out on the streets in potentially dangerous encounters, diverting them from their typical jobs at the bureau. And it comes as Trump is publicly portraying the city as rampant with violent crime - even as the mayor refutes that characterization, pointing to police data showing a drop in violent crime. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Last week, Trump ordered federal law enforcement agents from several agencies to be deployed on city streets and called for more juveniles to be charged in the adult justice system. Advertisement Staffing assignments this weekend reveal for the first time how many new FBI resources the Trump administration could divert to local crime and the frustration it has caused within the bureau. Advertisement In recent days, the administration has authorized up to 120 agents, largely from the FBI's Washington Field Office, to work overnight shifts for at least one week alongside D.C. police and other federal law enforcement officers in the nation's capital, according to the people familiar with those efforts, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss specifics of a staffing plan that has not been made public. FBI agents generally do not have authority to make traffic stops, and the people said the agents' roles could include supporting the other agencies during traffic stops. The FBI also is dispatching agents from outside D.C., including Philadelphia, to help with the surge of federal law enforcement in the District, according to multiple people familiar with the plans. Federal land is scattered across Washington, and local enforcement often works alongside federal law enforcement to patrol these and surrounding areas. But the U.S. Park Police and Secret Service - which have more experience patrolling streets - typically do this work, not the FBI. The Secret Service and the U.S. Secret Service Uniformed Division have also been directed to launch special patrols in D.C., according to a White House official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the operation. The Trump administration has not asked the D.C. police department - the chief law enforcement agency responsible for policing local crime - on how best to deploy these federal resources, according to a senior official with the department, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the matter. Because D.C. is not a state, the federal government has unique authority to exert control over the city - even amid objections from the residents and locally elected government. The Home Rule Act of 1973 gave D.C. residents the ability to elect their own mayor and council members. A federal takeover of the D.C. police force would be an extraordinary assertion of power in a place where local leaders have few avenues to resist federal encroachment. Advertisement 'Agents from the FBI Washington Field Office continue to participate in the increased federal law enforcement presence in D.C., which includes assisting our law enforcement partners,' the FBI said in a statement Sunday morning. Trump has been ramping up his criticisms on the nation's capital in recent days. Last week, the president posted on social media a photo of a former U.S. DOGE Service staffer who was injured in an attempted carjacking. Soon after the attack, D.C. police arrested a 15-year-old boy and girl from Maryland and charged them with unarmed carjacking. 'I'm going to make our Capital safer and more beautiful than it ever was before,' Trump wrote in a Truth Social post Sunday morning. 'It's all going to happen very fast, just like the Border.' In a different social media post on Sunday, Trump said the 10 a.m. White House news conference on Monday will be about the city's cleanliness, its physical renovation and its general condition. 'The Mayor of D.C., Muriel Bowser, is a good person who has tried, but she has been given many chances, and the Crime Numbers get worse, and the City only gets dirtier and less attractive,' Trump said in that afternoon Truth Social post. Bowser (D) has been pushing back against Trump's characterization of the city she leads, pointing out on MSNBC on Sunday morning that crime rates have been dropping in the nation's capital. Advertisement In D.C., violent crime is down 26 percent compared with this time in 2024, according to D.C. police data. Homicides are down 12 percent. D.C. police have made about 900 juvenile arrests this year - almost 20 percent fewer than during the same time frame last year. About 200 of those charges are for violent crimes and at least four dozen are for carjacking. 'If the priority is to show force in an American city, we know he can do that here,' Bowser, who said she last spoke to Trump a few weeks ago, said on MSNBC. 'But it won't be because there's a spike in crime.' The reassignment of FBI agents has further demoralized some agents in the Washington Field Office, who believe they have little expertise or training in thwarting carjackers and were already angered by a spate of firings inside the agency that they deemed were unwarranted. Last week, the Trump administration ousted with no explanation FBI personnel across the country, including the head of the Washington Field Office. In 2020, the first Trump administration dispatched FBI agents, mostly from the Washington Field Office, to respond to the racial justice protests that June in the nation's capital. The Trump administration had wanted a federal presence in the streets as a deterrent to rioters or protesters who might try to vandalize federal property. Several agents were captured in a photograph taking a knee in what was viewed as a gesture of solidarity to protesters marching against racial injustice - an image that went viral and fueled accusations from conservatives that the bureau harbors a liberal agenda. But people familiar with the FBI have said agents are not trained for riot control and were placed in an untenable position as they knelt down, trying to defuse a tense situation. Advertisement In the first months of the current Trump administration, officials reassigned several of those agents who were captured in that photo from nearly five years ago. 'If D.C. doesn't get its act together, and quickly, we will have no choice but to take Federal control of the City, and run this City how it should be run, and put criminals on notice that they're not going to get away with it anymore,' Trump wrote on social media last week in a post that included a bloody image of the injured former DOGE staffer. This spring, Trump ordered the creation of the 'D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force,' a vehicle for his long-held fixations on quality-of-life issues in the city, including homeless encampments and graffiti. On Sunday, homeless advocates and D.C. residents criticized Trump's threats to remove homeless people from D.C. as inhumane, costly and impractical. 'That money could be better spent getting folks housing and support' Jesse Rabinowitz, campaign and communications director at the National Homelessness Law Center, said of the federal law enforcement presence in the District. Deborah Goosby, a 67-year-old homeless woman, sat in her usual spot greeting shoppers outside a D.C. grocery store on Sunday morning. 'That's never going to happen,' she said after hearing that Trump wanted to send people experiencing homelessness far from the nation's capital. 'They can't make me leave.' Natalie Allison, Emily Davies and Paul Kiefer contributed to this report.
USA Today
2 days ago
- Politics
- USA Today
Trump says homeless people in DC 'have to move out IMMEDIATELY'
Trump says he plans to make an announcement Aug. 11 about a D.C. crime initiative, even as violent crime is down significantly in the nation's capital. Last year marked the lowest level of violent crime in Washington, D.C., in more than 30 years, but President Donald Trump has raised concerns about public safety in the city, teasing a plan that would also target its homeless population. "I'm going to make our Capital safer and more beautiful than it ever was before," Trump said on Truth Social on Aug. 10. "The Homeless have to move out, IMMEDIATELY. We will give you places to stay, but FAR from the Capital." In a series of social media posts, Trump said he would unveil his initiative on Aug. 11, adding it would address the city's crime and the "Cleanliness and the General Physical Renovation and Condition of our once beautiful and well maintained Capital." The president threatened to "take Federal control" of Washington, D.C., in an Aug. 5 post complaining about crime. The post came after Edward Coristine, a 19-year-old former employee of the Department of Government Efficiency nicknamed "BigBalls," was assaulted in an attempted carjacking. "Crime in Washington, D.C., is totally out of control," Trump said on Aug. 5, adding: "If this continues, I am going to exert my powers, and FEDERALIZE this City." Days later, Trump ordered an increased federal law enforcement presence on D.C. streets, led by officers from U.S. Park Police and including officers from about a dozen other agencies. Cruel and unusual punishment?: In major decision, Supreme Court allows cities to ban homeless camps Violent crime declined by 35% in D.C. in 2024, according to data compiled by the D.C. Metropolitan Police. The 2024 numbers marked the lowest level of violent crime in "over 30 years," the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia said in a news release. Homicides dropped by 32%, robberies were down 39% and armed carjackings were down 53%. Violent crime has declined so far in 2025, according to police data. Homicides and robberies are down 12% and 28%, respectively, while total violent crime is down 26% through Aug. 8 when compared with the same period in 2024. Homicides spiked in D.C. in 2023 to 274, up from 203 the year before, before dropping down to 187 in 2024, according to police data. That is the lowest level since the city had 166 homicides in 2019. There have been 99 homicides in 2025, compared to 112 during the same period last year. Trump has long denigrated Washington, D.C, which leans heavily Democratic. He also floated taking over governance of the district in February in comments to reporters, complaining about crime and homelessness. Contributing: Joey Garrison, USA TODAY
