National Guard troops began arriving in Washington, D.C., Tuesday as part of President Donald Trump’s historic federal takeover.
News4 saw members of the D.C. National Guard carrying large duffle bags, backpacks and sleeping bags as they reported for duty at the D.C. Armory in the morning.
Trump announced he would deploy 800 National Guard soldiers in the District during a White House briefing Monday, saying the action was to “rescue our nation’s capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor and worse.”
Between 100 to 200 soldiers are expected to be out on the streets at any given time.
A Department of Defense official told NBC News the National Guard will be engaged in security, crowd management, perimeter control and communications support for law enforcement as early as Tuesday.
Guard members will not be arresting, searching or performing “direct law enforcement” and, in most cases, won’t be carrying firearms, according to the official.
A White House official told NBC News National Guard soldiers will “protect federal assets, provide a safe environment for law enforcement officers and deter violent crime through their presence.”
About 850 officers and agents arrested 23 people across the city Monday night, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said. She said the arrests were for a range of crimes, including homicide, firearms offenses, stalking, DUI and fare evasion. Officers and agents seized six illegal handguns, Leavitt said.
“This is only the beginning. Over the course of the next month, the Trump administration will relentlessly pursue and arrest every violent criminal in the District who breaks the law, undermines public safety, and endangers law-abiding Americans.
Trump appointed U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to lead D.C. police and new Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Terry Cole to be the interim federal commissioner of the police department. Cole was sworn in at the DEA last month.
Mayor Bowser meets with Attorney General Bondi
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser had a “productive” meeting with Bondi Tuesday, the attorney general said on X.
“We talked about the priorities that we share with public safety and how we can, they can surge federal resources and show progress in a few weeks,” Bowser said in an exclusive interview with News4 after the meeting.
“Obviously, the chief makes all deployment decisions for the Metropolitan Police Department and she is working with the federal teams, Mr. Cole in particular, when it comes to recommendations on deployment strategies for the federal officers,” she said.
Bowser called Trump’s directive “unsettling and unprecedented” on Monday, but said the city would cooperate with the administration to the extent that the law allows.
“I know some people have questions, say ‘Bowser, why are you working with them?’ Well, aside from it being the law, it’s also important for our public safety, for our police to be directing where we most need additional police resources,” she told News4.
Bowser she she empathizes with many residents’ angst and concerns about the takeover.
“I am not absent this same frustration that they have about our autonomy being trampled on,” she said.
Earlier Tuesday, Bowser told The Breakfast Club she believes the Trump administration is testing the waters in D.C. in hopes of taking similar actions in other cities. She again brought attention to how D.C.’s lack of statehood puts it in a vulnerable position.
“He wants to send the message to cities that if he can get away with this in Los Angeles, if he can get away with this in D.C. — he can get away with it in New York, or Baltimore, or Chicago, or any other place where millions of people live, work and are doing everything the right way,” she said. “And it is a step in facism when the federal government can bigfoot sovereign states. That’s not us. We should be … the 51st state, but, right now, I think that is what he is trying to make it normal, where citizens say the federal government should overtake local policing and try to make that a ‘normal’ thing so if he tries it in other places, people will be desensitized to it. We can’t be desensitized to it because it’s not normal.”
Trump ordered federal agents to patrol streets last week and on Monday touted arrests made by federal officers. Federal officers were seen on D.C. streets Monday, including some wearing gear reading “U.S. Border Patrol.”
How bad is D.C. crime?
“It’s getting worse, not getting better. It’s getting worse,” Trump said of violent crime in D.C.
But Bowser and other officials pushed back on the president’s characterization of D.C. as a lawless city, and experts told the News4 I-Team that violent crime has dropped since a post-pandemic peak in 2023.
Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) statistics show a 26% drop in violent crime this year so far, compared to the same period last year. The beating of a 19-year-old former DOGE staffer during an alleged attempted carjacking by teens appeared to hit a nerve with Trump last week.
A recent Department of Justice report shows that violent crime is down 35% since 2023, returning to the previous trend of decreasing crime that puts the District’s violent crime rate at its lowest in 30 years.
That report shows that when compared to 2023 numbers, homicides are down 32%, armed carjackings are down 53% and assaults with a dangerous weapon are down 27%.
The city’s statistics have come into question, however, after authorities opened an investigation into allegations that officials altered some of the data to make it look better. But Bowser stands by the data.
“We are not experiencing a spike in crime,” Bowser said on MSNBC Sunday. “In fact, we’re watching our crime numbers go down.”
DC police union head tells why he doubts city crime statistics
The president questioned MPD crime statistics at the White House on Monday. Overnight, the head of the DC Police Union told why he also distrusts the statistics.
Last month, News4’s Paul Wagner broke the news that the commander of MPD’s 3rd District was suspended after MPD said he was changing crime statistics to minimize serious crimes. Trump brought up the allegations in his news conference, and the White House linked to News4’s reporting in a press release titled “Yes, D.C. crime is out of control,” accusing MPD of cooking the books to make crime statistics appear more favorable.
DC Police Union Chairman Gregg Pemberton told NBC News’ Garrett Haake that he doubts the drop in crime is as large as D.C. officials are touting.
“There’s a, potentially, a drop from where we were in 2023. I think that there’s a possibility that crime has come down. But the department is reporting that in 2024, crime went down 35% — violent crime — and another 25% through August of this year. That is preposterous to suggest that cumulatively we’ve seen 60-plus percent drops in violent crime from where we were in ’23, because we’re out on the street. We know the calls we’re responding to,” he said.
“I think that what Paul’s reporting revealed is that the chief of police had concerns about one commander, investigated all seven districts and verified that the concern was with one person. So, we are completing that investigation and we don’t believe it implicates many cases,” Bowser said when News4 asked her about the statistics.
What’s next?
It wasn’t immediately clear how long the takeover might last or exactly what it might mean. It could also face challenges in court.
During his White House briefing, Trump added, “We will bring in the military if it’s needed” but said, “I don’t think we’ll need it.”
Congress still has power over things like the budget and laws passed by the city council, but would have to repeal the Home Rule Act to expand federal power in the District.
Bowser flatly stated that the city’s hands are tied and that her administration has little choice but to comply. “We could contest that,” she said of Trump’s definition of a crime emergency, “but his authority is pretty broad.”
She also made a reference to Trump’s “so-called emergency” and concluded, “I’m going to work every day to make sure it’s not a complete disaster.”
What does Trump’s executive order on D.C. crime say?
In an executive order declaring that “crime is out of control in the District of Columbia,” the president ordered the mayor to “provide the services of the Metropolitan Police force for Federal purposes.”
Trump evoked Section 740 of the Home Rule Act, which allows for the president to take over the Metropolitan Police Department for 48 hours, with possible extensions to 30 days, during times of emergencies. No president has done so before, said Monica Hopkins, executive director of the ACLU of Washington.
Some key points from the executive order include:
- Declaring that “special conditions of an emergency nature exist that require the use of the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia (Metropolitan Police force) for Federal purposes.”
- Delegates the president’s authority to use D.C. police to the U.S. Attorney General, and directs her to regularly update the president.
- Directs D.C.’s mayor to provide Metropolitan Police Department services “as the Attorney General may deem necessary and appropriate.”
- Says, “the costs for publication of this order shall be borne by the Department of Justice.”
What do other D.C. leaders and residents say?
The D.C. Council criticized the takeover of the police department, saying there is no federal emergency.
“This is a manufactured intrusion on local authority,” Council members said in a statement.
“Further, the National Guard has no public safety training or knowledge of local laws. The Guard’s role does not include investigating or solving crimes in the District,” the statement read in part.
D.C.’s police union said it supports Trump’s action.
As the president prepared to speak Monday, crowds gathered on 16th Street NW, not far from the White House. Many of the demonstrators wore black t-shirts with the words “Free DC” in white below the emblem of the D.C. flag. They held up signs saying “#TimeToResist” and “Free D.C. release the Epstein files.”
“I want to be clear that this is not about crime. This is about what Trump is trying to do to D.C. in order to take over D.C. and silence us,” an activist told the crowd.
But not all D.C. residents are against the move to federalize the police force.
“I’m happy Trump is gonna have his department take over the police department. I think it’s needed, I think we will have some results,” said Leroy Thorpe, who founded Citizen Organized Patrol Efforts, a group that patrols the streets of Chinatown doing violence prevention work.
“With the mayor being in power so long, I think she’s kinda used to how things are going. And I think Donald Trump really wants to clean it up. And I’m all for it,” another group member, Jesse McKnight, said.
“These kids are getting out of hand. They been out of hand. Something has to be done. Too many people dying out here, too many innocent people,” COPE volunteer Cheryl Watson said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
from Local – NBC4 Washington https://ift.tt/ksqmf7y
0 Comments