Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) slammed President Trump’s sweeping crime crackdown Monday as “an historic assault” on D.C.’s autonomy and justification for her decades-long push for statehood.
“President Trump’s decision to federalize MPD and activate the D.C. National Guard to address crime is an historic assault on D.C. home rule, is a counterproductive, escalatory seizure of D.C.’s resources to use for purposes not supported by D.C. residents, and is more evidence of the urgent need to pass my D.C. statehood bill,” Norton said in a statement.
Trump unveiled his plan to take over the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) and deploy National Guard troops to combat crime during an event at the White House.
“It’s becoming a situation of complete and total lawlessness,” he told reporters.
The Home Rule Act of 1973 grants various powers to D.C.’s local government, but it allows the president to temporarily take control of MPD when “special conditions of an emergency nature exist.”
Norton, who has been the District’s nonvoting delegate to the House since 1991, argued that crime statistics show a decrease in violent incidents over the past year and accused the White House of “misleadingly citing years-old statistics” to justify the temporary takeover.
“There are more than 700,000 D.C. residents, and they are worthy and capable of governing themselves,” she said.
White House officials have questioned official statistics, while citing reports of an MPD commander who was placed on leave over allegations that he changed crime statistics. The president also pointed to recent high-profile crimes involving people with ties to government.
The president controls the D.C. National Guard, unlike state units under the direction of governors, but Trump has shown a willingness to also go around governors who disagree with his plans.
Trump deployed National Guard members and Marines to Los Angeles in June, despite objections from California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), after protests broke out in response to his federal immigration crackdown.
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