MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Trump declares crime emergency and takes over Washington DC's security

Trump signed an executive order placing Bondi in charge of Washington, DC's Police

US President Donald Trump announced Monday that the federal government would take control of law enforcement in Washington, D.C. In adition, the National Guard would be deployed to combat what he described as a crime emergency.

Trump argued during a press conference that he was invoking the District of Columbia Home Rule Act to “rescue our nation's capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor” and appointed Attorney General Pam Bondi to take control of the D.C. Metropolitan Police. The Republican leader also announced that Drug Enforcement Agency Administrator Terry Cole would be the new head of the department.

The president made this decision despite official statistics showing a significant decline in violent crime in D.C. this year, which he downplayed, claiming that data was being falsified. He cited specific incidents, such as the assault on a former federal employee and the murder of a congressional intern, to justify his actions, which seek to “rescue our nation's capital from crime, bloodshed, chaos, and misery.” He also said he intended to expand this policy to other major US cities, such as New York and Chicago.

“Our capital city has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth, drugged-out maniacs, and homeless people, and we're not going to let it happen anymore,” Trump noted.

Under the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, the president has the authority to temporarily take control of the police department during special emergency conditions. This authority allows for unilateral control for up to 30 days, though any extension would require congressional approval.

DC Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, has pushed back against Trump's explanations. She claimed that there was no crime emergency and that the president's description of the city was “hyperbolic and false.”