In yet another alarming display of executive overreach, Donald Trump has seized control of Washington, D.C.’s police force and ordered the deployment of 800 National Guard troops to the capital. His justification? To “restore law, order, and public safety” in a city he paints as overrun with “bloodshed, bedlam, and squalor.”
But the facts tell a very different story. According to official crime data, D.C. is experiencing its lowest violent crime rates in three decades—a trend local officials say contradicts Trump’s narrative entirely. Mayor Muriel Bowser called the move “unsettling and unprecedented.” D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb went further, calling it “unlawful” and signaling that legal challenges may be on the way.
The legal hook for Trump’s move comes from Section 740 of the D.C. Home Rule Act, a provision that allows the president to take temporary control of local law enforcement. That authority was designed for extraordinary circumstances—imminent threats, riots, or disasters—not political theater. Under the statute, Trump’s control lasts 48 hours before he must notify Congress, and can be extended to 30 days without a vote. Beyond that, Congressional approval is required.
Yet the political playbook here is familiar. This is the same Trump who sent federal forces into Portland in 2020, who cleared Lafayette Square with tear gas, and who has a documented history of framing urban centers—especially those with Democratic leadership—as war zones in need of his “rescue.”
The D.C. Police Union has offered only tepid support, calling the intervention acceptable only if it is temporary. That alone underscores the fragility of this federal incursion. Even law enforcement professionals don’t want the precedent of the president turning local police into a political pawn.
This takeover is more than a bad-faith misreading of crime statistics—it’s a direct assault on local self-governance. Washington, D.C. already suffers from the democratic deficit of lacking statehood; now its residents face the added insult of being stripped of control over their own police department.
This is not about safety. It’s about power. It’s about stoking fear to justify authoritarian measures. And it’s about testing the limits of federal authority before November.
What We Do Next
Authoritarian overreach doesn’t fade on its own—it expands unless it’s met with resistance.
If you live in D.C., demand that your elected officials challenge this takeover in the courts and in Congress. Everywhere else, contact your representatives and insist they defend the limits of presidential power.
Support statehood for D.C., because no community should have its democratic rights stripped away by the whim of a single politician.
And above all, stay informed. Share credible reporting. Refuse to let propaganda replace fact.
This is not a moment to watch from the sidelines—it’s a moment to act.
The Humane Herald 