The Trump administration’s crackdown on vi*lent crime in Washington, D.C., has already netted more than 240 a**ests and taken 38 g*ns off the streets, a White House official told Fox News.
The show of force has swept up g*ng members, robbery suspects and immigration vi*lators. On Friday alone, 52 people were a**ested, including 28 illegal immigrants, while three g*ns were seized.
Federal teams also cleared 25 homeless encampments, and officials said those removals were carried out without confrontations or a**ests.
White House deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller hailed the scale of the operations and said the numbers are “breathtaking.”
“We have seen a record number of vi*lent offenders, bad guys, g*ng members and all kinds of thr**ts to public safety removed off the streets as well as their illegal w**pons that they’ve been using to ter*orize the citizens of this city,” Miller told “Fox News Live.”
“Additionally, we have seen over 70 homeless encampments that have scarred and disfigured the public streets of this city, dismantled and thrown away and the homeless cleared from those encampments. At the same time, we have the National Park Service going around and getting rid of the g*ng graffiti that has been left untouched by this city for decades.”
The operation began quietly Aug. 7 with the launch of the “Making D.C. Safe and Beautiful” task force created by President Donald Trump in March through an executive order.
He escalated it Aug. 11 by temporarily seizing federal control of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) under emergency powers in the Home Rule Act, the first such move in U.S. history.
The order puts the MPD under federal authority for up to 30 days, unless Congress extends it, and 800 National Guard troops were deployed.
In all, 22 multi-agency teams with more than 1,800 personnel were deployed across all seven police districts as the president vowed to aggressively “take our capital back.”
“We have a capital that’s very unsafe. … Something’s out of control. But we’re going to put it in control very quickly,” Trump said Monday.
Other a**ests included dr*g distribution, w**pons vi*lations and outstanding warrants. Police also detained suspects accused of fleeing law enforcement, reckless driving, a**ault with a dangerous w**pon and ki**app.ing.
The D.C. National Guard carried out roving patrols on foot and in vehicles around the National Mall and Union Station last night. While they remain armed, the officials stressed they are not making a**ests, instead securing federal assets and providing cover for police.
Trump began floating the idea of federalizing D.C. law enforcement after the brutal beating of a former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) employee during an alleged attempted carjacking in Washington’s Logan Circle. He then moved to ramp up his crackdown on Monday, invoking the Home Rule Act.
