This Monday Donald Trump announced that his government will take control of the Washington D.C. police and will deploy 800 National Guard members to control, according to him, the rise in crimes and offenses in the city, despite official numbers showing completely different figures.
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In his lengthy press conference at the White House, the president compared the homicide rate of the U.S. capital with Bogotá and Mexico City, delivering a particular message.
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What did Trump say against the capitals of Colombia and Mexico?
“This is Liberation Day in Washington, and we are going to take back our Capitol. The murder rate in Washington today is higher than that of Bogotá, Colombia, Mexico City, some of the places that you hear about as been the worst on Earth,” Trump declared.
In that same statement, Trump pointed out that Washington has been “taken over by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals.”.
Similarly, the American president assured that he was going to dismantle the homeless camps throughout the city. He stated that, while the administration would provide them with “the greatest possible help”, the city’s homeless “could not turn their capital into a wasteland”.
Legal framework and scope of the measure
Trump will invoke Section 740 of the District of Columbia Self-Government Act of 1973, which allows him to take control of the city’s police. According to NBC News, the regulation authorizes the president to federalize the force for 48 hours before notifying Congress and for up to 30 days without their formal approval. Any extension beyond that period requires legislative approval through a joint resolution.
The law establishes that the president can act when he identifies “special conditions of an emergent nature,” but it does not contemplate different rules if Congress is in recess as is the case these days, and legislative sessions will resume on September 2nd.