The United States capital, Washington, DC, has challenged President Donald Trump’s takeover of its police department in court, hours after his administration stepped up its crackdown on policing. District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb said on Friday in a new lawsuit that Trump is exceeding his power under the law. Schwalb urged a judge to rule that control of the department remains in the city’s hands and has also sought an emergency restraining order.
“The administration’s unlawful actions are an affront to the dignity and autonomy of the 700,000 Americans who call DC home,” Schwalb said. “This is the gravest threat to Home Rule that the District has ever faced, and we are fighting to stop it.” Washington’s police chief, Pamela Smith, also pushed back against Trump’s directive, saying it would deeply threaten law and order by upending the department’s command structure.
“In my nearly three decades in law enforcement, I have never seen a single government action that would cause a greater threat to law and order than this dangerous directive,” Smith said in a court filing. Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser also expressed her opposition, writing on social media that “there is no statute that conveys the District’s personnel authority to a federal official.”
The lawsuit comes after Trump’s Attorney General, Pam Bondi, said on Thursday night that DEA boss Terry Cole will assume “powers and duties vested in the District of Columbia Chief of Police”. The Metropolitan Police Department “must receive approval from Commissioner Cole” before issuing any orders, Bondi said. Earlier this week, Trump announced that the federal government would take control of the District of Columbia (DC) Metropolitan Police Department to address surging crime.
“I’m announcing a historic action to rescue our nation’s capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor and worse,” Trump said during the news conference. “This is Liberation Day in DC, and we’re going to take our capital back. We’re taking it back.” Trump also announced the deployment of the National Guard, saying, “I’m deploying the National Guard to help re-establish law, order and public safety in Washington, DC, and they’re going to be allowed to do their job properly.”
A Washington population already on edge from days of Trump administration ramp-ups has begun witnessing more significant shows of force across the city. National Guard troops watched over some of the country’s most renowned landmarks, and Humvees took position in front of the busy main train hub, Union Station. Volunteers have helped homeless people leave longstanding encampments, but where they were relocating to was often unclear.
The sudden spike in high visibility of federal forces around the city has struck residents going about their day-to-day lives. Trump has the power to take over federal law enforcement for 30 days before his actions must be reviewed by Congress, though he has said he will re-evaluate as that deadline approaches.