WASHINGTON — Federal agents fanned out across parts of Washington on Friday in a show of force after several days of President Donald Trump bashing the city’s crime rate.
“This is the first step in stopping the violent crime that has been plaguing the streets of Washington, DC,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement Friday.
Leavitt said in a statement the day before that Trump had "directed an increased presence of federal law enforcement to protect innocent citizens," contending that the city was beset by "violent crime."
The seven-day effort, which got underway at midnight on Friday, is focused on high-traffic tourist areas and other hot spots in the nation’s capital, according to a White House official.
Federal officers engaged in the ongoing heightened law enforcement presence in the coming days, will be "highly visible and in marked units," the official said.
Participating agents and officers have come from U.S. Secret Service, the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the FBI, the U.S. Capitol Police, the Metropolitan Police Department and the U.S. Marshals Service, among others, the official said.
The number of participating agents joining in on the weeklong effort was not specified, but the official said that more than 120 officers were set to be stationed in high traffic areas on Friday night, up from an unspecified number the previous night.
It’s unclear whether the officers have been directed to engage in “activity” beyond typical duties or what their role would be beyond being present on federal property, a Washington official said Thursday.
The U.S. Park Police posted on social media Friday that arrests had been made "for possession of two stolen firearms and illegal drugs removing these dangerous items from the community."
The White House has said the operation — which began at 12 a.m. ET on Friday — could extend beyond the weeklong period.
In March, the president signed an executive order known as “Making the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful,” which directs a task force to ensure federal involvement in enforcing U.S. immigration law, shifting available resources toward deporting undocumented immigrants in the Washington area and reviewing federal prosecution policies tied to pretrial detention, among other matters.
Trump in recent days has decried “crime” in the district, even though local police data shows violent crime is down 26% compared with last year.
He has specifically cited a recent attack on Edward Coristine, a former employee of the Department of Government Efficiency also known by his online name, “Big Balls,” who was the victim of a carjacking and an assault last weekend, a police report said. Police later arrested two 15-year-olds from Maryland.
Trump wrote Tuesday on Truth Social that “the Law in D.C. must be changed to prosecute these ‘minors’ as adults, and lock them up for a long time, starting at age 14.”
“If D.C. doesn’t get its act together, and quickly, we will have no choice but to take Federal control of the City, and run this City how it should be run, and put criminals on notice that they’re not going to get away with it anymore,” he added. “If this continues, I am going to exert my powers, and FEDERALIZE this City.”
Trump has threatened a federal takeover of the Washington government, saying this week that White House lawyers are examining whether Congress should overturn a law known as the Home Rule Act of 1973, which empowers residents to elect their own mayor and City Council members.
Monica Alba and Laura Strickler reported from Washington and Zoë Richards from New York City.
