TROOPS ON WASHINGTON’S STREETS: Trump Takes Control of Local Police, Mayor Fiercely Criticizes Him!

Members of the U.S. National Guard have begun patrolling the streets of Washington, a day after President Donald Trump deployed troops to the capital and took control of local police, claiming that violent crime is out of control, the BBC reports.

Armored vehicles were spotted in urban centers and tourist areas on Tuesday evening. Officials said that 800 National Guard members and 500 federal police officers are expected to be deployed. They were seen setting up barricades in front of several government buildings and taking photos with tourists.

Twenty-three people have been arrested by federal agents, according to White House spokesperson Caroline Leavitt. She said the arrests were made for murder, firearms offenses, drug trafficking, indecent exposure, stalking, reckless driving, and other crimes. “This is just the beginning,” Leavitt said.

This action comes after a manhunt was launched for an armed gunman who killed a man on Monday evening in Logan Circle, one of Washington’s most fashionable neighborhoods, just a few kilometers from the White House. It was the 100th homicide recorded in Washington this year, according to local media.

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Washington’s Democratic Mayor, Muriel Bowser, who has denied that crime is out of control in the city, described the troop deployment as an “authoritarian move.”

Studies show that the capital’s homicide rate is higher than average compared to other major U.S. cities. According to crime data released by the Washington police, violent crimes peaked in 2023 and fell by 35 percent last year to the lowest level in three decades. However, the president of the D.C. Police Union, Greg Pemberton, has disputed these figures, previously accusing the city’s police department of “intentionally falsifying crime data, creating a false narrative of reduced crime while communities suffer.”

Trump, a Republican, has also threatened similar deployments of forces in New York and Chicago, two other cities controlled by Democrats.