The National Guard troops would not have the authority to arrest people, though they can detain people until law enforcement arrives.
WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump announced on Aug. 11 that he will activate hundreds of National Guard troops to be in the nation’s capital to deal with the issue of crime.
“This is Liberation Day in D.C. and we’re going to take our Capitol back,” Trump said at a press conference. “We’re taking it back under the authorities vested in me as the president of the United States.”
Trump invoked Section 740 of the D.C. Home Rule Act of 1973, which puts control of the Metropolitan Police Department under the president for 48 hours.
The president can keep renewing this control for up to 30 days while notifying Congress. After 30 days, he must get approval from Congress.
He said Attorney General Pam Bondi is “taking command of the Metropolitan Police Department” and that Terry Cole, head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, is “designated as the interim federal commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Department.”
The president signed an executive order declaring a crime emergency in the District of Columbia. He also signed a presidential memorandum to mobilize Washington’s National Guard.
The National Guard troops would not have the authority to arrest people, although they can detain people until law enforcement arrives.
District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser said she was not given advance notice regarding the federal takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department.
Bowser called the takeover “unsettling.”
“My message to residents is this,” she said at a press conference. “We know that access to our democracy is tenuous. That is why you have heard me and many Washingtonians before me advocate for full statehood.”
Trump wrote on Truth Social on Aug. 10 ahead of his announcement, “The Mayor of D.C., Muriel Bowser, is a good person who has tried, but she has been given many chances, and the Crime Numbers get worse, and the City only gets dirtier and less attractive.”
Appearing on MSNBC on Aug. 10, Bowser said, “We are not experiencing a crime spike.”
Trump announced on Aug. 10 that he would remove homeless people in Washington from the city.
“The Homeless have to move out, IMMEDIATELY. We will give you places to stay, but FAR from the Capital,” he posted on Truth Social.
On Aug. 7, Trump ordered an increase in federal law enforcement in the nation’s capital.
