(WASHINGTON) — National Guard troops called to active duty in Washington, D.C., by President Donald Trump have made dozens of arrests to combat what the president says is rampant violent crime that statistics show is actually decreasing.
On Tuesday night, more than 1,450 federal law enforcement officers and National Guard members patrolled Washington, according to a White House official. Forces made 43 arrests on Tuesday night — nearly twice the amount they made Monday night.
Those forces included 750 D.C. Metropolitan Police Department officers who were “uniformed, marked as patrol and directly assigned as anti-crime officers,” the White House official said. That was in addition to the federal law enforcement who had been previously mobilized in the area. The White House official said that there were about 30 National Guard troops on the ground last night.
The forces, which included 19 inter-agency teams, were “deployed throughout all seven districts in D.C. to promote public safety and arrest violent offenders,” the White House official said.
On Monday, Trump announced his plans to deploy National Guard troops in the nation’s capital, declaring a public safety emergency in order to put the Washington police department under federal control and station the National Guard on the city’s streets. Trump’s control of the D.C. police force expires in 30 days, after which Congress would have to weigh in.
Trump has long threatened to take control of Washington, saying he wants to crack down on violent crime in the district although police statistics show that in the past two years, violent crime in Washington has fallen dramatically.
“Fighting crime is a good thing. We have to explain we’re going to fight crime — that’s a good thing,” Trump said of the effort during an event at the Kennedy Center Wednesday afternoon. “Already they’re saying, ‘He’s a dictator.’ The place is going to hell. We’ve got to stop it. So instead of saying, ‘He’s a dictator,’ they should say, ‘We’re going to join him and make Washington safe.'”
After Trump’s announcement Monday, approximately 850 officers and agents fanned out over D.C. right after Trump declared a crime emergency in the capital, making 23 arrests, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday.
The surge in federal law enforcement has yielded more than 100 total arrests since Aug. 7, according to a White House official. The official said that the charges have included one homicide charge, seven narcotics charges, 33 firearms charges, 10 warrants, 23 charges against undocumented immigrants and 29 other charges. The official adds that they have seized 24 firearms since operations began.
The official said that on Wednesday night they expect “significantly higher National Guard presence to be on the ground throughout Washington, D.C.” The White House official adds that beginning Wednesday night, the operations will transition to round-the-clock, 24/7 operations. Operations had been previously focused on evening and overnight hours.
On Tuesday, National Guard troops were spotted on the National Mall, with many stationed around the base of the Washington Monument. The troops left Wednesday morning. It was not immediately clear why the presence of U.S. troops along the National Mall was needed, other than to put Trump’s orders on display. The area, marked by museums, monuments and long stretches of grass, is known as a relatively safe part of the city that attracts mostly tourists and school groups.
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