National guard and federal law enforcement agents were spotted on the streets of Washington DC overnight Wednesday, as part of Donald Trump’s campaign to quell a “crime crisis” in the capital that local officials say does not exist.
National guard troops were spotted arriving on the National Mall late Tuesday as agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), FBI and Department of Homeland Security fanned out across neighborhoods in the capital, sometimes accompanied by local police officers. Video circulating on local media showed police and federal agents arresting at least one person that evening in Columbia Heights, home to the city’s largest Hispanic population.
Around 800 national guard troops are expected to be deployed for the mission, defense officials have said. A White House official said the national guard “is currently providing support to federal law enforcement agents. Their role is to protect federal assets, provide a safe environment for law enforcement officers to make arrests, and deter violent crime with a visible law enforcement presence”.
It was unclear how many arrests were made on Tuesday night and by which agencies. The US attorney’s office, Metropolitan police department and DEA, whose head has been appointed temporary administrator of the police department, did not immediately respond to requests for comments.
After months of maintaining a diplomatic tone in her dealings with Trump, Muriel Bowser changed tack as the federal deployment intensified. During a social media event Tuesday evening, DC’s Democratic mayor urged residents and voters “to protect our city, to protect our autonomy, to protect our home rule and get to the other side of this guy and make sure we elect a Democratic House so that we have a backstop to this authoritarian push”.
The Trump administration has said the deployment of troops and first-ever takeover of the city’s police department were necessary to fight out-of-control crime, but city officials have disagreed. Data shows that crime rates plunged last year to the lowest levels in three decades, though the capital does have a higher rate of some violent crimes than cities with similar populations.
Democrats have condemned Trump’s incursion as an authoritarian move intended to distract his supporters from outrage over his refusal to make public files related to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, a one-time friend who has become a fixation of conspiracy theorists.
Washington DC is the second US city to which Trump has deployed troops since taking office in January. In June, he ordered US marines and federalized national guard into Los Angeles to quell protests over his immigration crackdown.
In an opinion piece published in the Washington Post, Jeanine Pirro, the Fox News personality recently confirmed as Washington DC’s US attorney, said Trump had drawn “much-needed attention to public safety in this city to make DC safe and beautiful”. She added she would push to change laws around criminal sentencing, particularly for the juveniles she blamed for violence in the city.
“Young criminals have been emboldened to think they can get away with committing crime in this city, and, very often, they do. But together with our local and federal partners, our message to them today is: we will identify you, prosecute you and convict you,” Pirro said.
The 700,000 residents of the federal district have no voting representation in Congress and the president and Congress have the power to meddle in laws passed by the city council. In addition to deploying the guard, Trump took over the police department for the first time ever, exercising a clause in a law outlining the city’s governing structure that was passed in 1973.
On Monday night, the White House said about 850 officers and agents took part in a “massive law enforcement surge” and made nearly two dozen arrests.
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