President Donald Trump has assumed control of Washington, D.C.’s police department and ordered National Guard troops into the city, calling it an “emergency” response to violent crime. Declaring Monday “liberation day,” Trump vowed to “take our capital back.”
Critics, including Mayor Muriel Bowser and civil rights groups, questioned the legitimacy of the emergency declaration, noting D.C. crime rates are near 30-year lows. Advocates such as April Goggans and the ACLU’s Monica Hopkins warned the move could erode civil liberties and set a precedent for federal crackdowns in other majority-Black cities.
Trump’s rhetoric echoed past “law and order” campaigns by conservative leaders targeting cities with large nonwhite populations. He also named Baltimore, Chicago, Los Angeles, Oakland, and New York City—each led by Black mayors—as examples of cities in decline.
Civil rights leaders, including NAACP President Derrick Johnson, called the takeover unjustified and politically motivated, accusing Trump of using it as a distraction from other controversies. The administration maintains the Guard will protect federal assets and assist law enforcement in arrests.
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