National Guard troops began arriving in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday after President Trump announced a federal takeover of the city’s police force, citing a “crime emergency.” It’s the first time a president has invoked the 1973 Home Rule Act to seize direct control of the Metropolitan Police Department.
Mayor Muriel Bowser pushed back, pointing to declining violent crime rates and calling the emergency unfounded, but acknowledged the president’s broad legal authority leaves the city with little recourse.
The move has raised alarms nationally, as Trump signaled he may deploy troops to New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, cities where violent crime data has shown to have steadily declined or stabilized in recent years. Civil rights groups warn that the move sets a dangerous precedent by using federal power to override local policing without evidence. Many critics see it as an abuse of authority that sidelines root causes, inflames political tensions, and opens the door to wider federal crackdowns untethered from actual crime data or community needs.
