2 hours ago
5
ARTICLE AD BOX
Washington remains in political turmoil a week after President Trump declared a safety-inspired “takeover” of the city’s streets, with a federal judge forcing him to retreat from total control of the police department but Republican governors rushing National Guard troops to deploy at federal command.
Judge Ana Reyes said Mr. Trump lacks the power under the law to do a complete takeover of the police, but she said he can order them to do specific tasks.
Under a deal she brokered, Attorney General Pam Bondi rescinded an order placing control of the police in her hands — but issued a new order enlisting city police to cooperate with Homeland Security in immigration arrests, and to clear homeless encampments.
Meanwhile, Mr. Trump’s National Guard deployment is getting reinforcements from Ohio, South Carolina and West Virginia, which said they are sending roughly 700 soldiers to join 800 D.C. troops already on the streets.
The Wall Street Journal reported that they may be given orders to carry weapons, which would be a change from current practice.
The new troops drew a denunciation from Mayor Muriel Bowser.
SEE ALSO: GOP-led Ohio, South Carolina and West Virginia to send National Guard troops to D.C.
“American soldiers and airmen policing American citizens on American soil is UnAmerican,” the Democratic mayor said on social media over the weekend.
Federal officials, though, say Mr. Trump’s work is helping.
The FBI, Homeland Security Investigations and the Drug Enforcement Administration have racked up more than 240 arrests since Mr. Trump launched the takeover Aug. 7.
They also cleared 25 homeland camps, bringing the total to more than 100.
The American Civil Liberties Union said the stiffer enforcement is a threat to “Black, Brown and unhoused residents.”
“Sending heavily armed federal agents and National Guard troops from hundreds of miles away into our nation’s capital is unnecessary, inflammatory, and puts people’s rights at high risk of being violated,” said Hina Shamsi, director of ACLU’s national security project.
The ACLU warned of potential legal problems for the guard troops.
Mr. Trump’s attempt to take over the city police department has already hit some of those legal hurdles, which forced him to rethink the scope of his plans.
At issue was Ms. Bondi’s order Thursday to install an acting commissioner with powers to veto any command decision.
During a court hearing Friday, Judge Reyes said Mr. Trump — and by extension Ms. Bondi — has some powers under the city’s home rule charter to control the police during an emergency, but a takeover goes too far.
She said the president can order positive actions, but can’t maintain a veto over other actions the department takes.
“The way that I read this statute is the president can ask, the mayor must provide, but the president can’t control. Which means the president has to act in the affirmative, not say in the negative, you can’t do X, Y or Z,” the judge said.
The Biden appointee specifically rejected the idea of a full takeover.
“The statute would have no meaning at all if the president could say we’re just taking over your police department,” she said.
She suggested Ms. Bondi go back and try again.
The attorney general returned Friday night with a new order that leaves Police Chief Pamela Smith and Ms. Bowser in charge, but enlists the cops to help with some of Mr. Trump’s specific goals — particularly a crackdown on illegal immigration.
“The proliferation of illegal aliens into our country during the prior administration, including into our nation’s capital, presents extreme public safety and national security risks to our country,” Ms. Bondi wrote in her new order.
D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb, who had sued and asked for a temporary restraining order Friday, said the city’s home rule powers were preserved.
“The court recognized that it was clearly unlawful for the Administration to try to seize control of the Metropolitan Police Department. Chief Smith and Mayor Bowser rightfully remain in command of MPD,” he said on social media. “There is still a long road ahead, but together, we will keep fighting to defend the District’s self-governance and protect the rights and safety of D.C. residents.”
Under the home rule charter, Mr. Trump’s emergency ability to give police orders lasts for 30 days.
A Justice Department lawyer told Judge Reyes they were not challenging that limit.
Mr. Trump said he was acting due to a crime emergency in the city.
Judge Reyes was skeptical of that, pointing out that just months ago, Mr. Trump had been celebrating a drop in reports of crimes.
Judge Reyes said Mr. Trump’s ire was instead stoked by the carjacking earlier this month of Edward Coristine, a former employee of the Department of Government Efficiency known as “Big Balls.” Judge Reyes pointed out that some of the suspects were quickly apprehended.
Mr. Schwalb, in his court filing, said violent crime reports are down 26% since 2024 and the federal Justice Department’s own statistics showed a 35% drop last year compared to 2023. The city was enjoying its best crime rate in more than 30 years, he said.
Mr. Trump, in his emergency declaration, said the city still had among the highest robbery and murder rates for the country’s large cities.
It also had the highest vehicle theft rate, at three times the national average.
“The District of Columbia is, by some measures, among the top 20 percent of the most dangerous cities in the world,” he said.
He has said the city’s official numbers are being distorted to hide the extent of crime.
English (US) ·