White House Officials Asked If They Could Take Over D.C.’s Local Police

TOPLINE

The Washington Post reported Tuesday that federal officials, including at the White House, raised the idea with District of Columbia officials of taking over the local police department, according to Mayor Muriel Bowser’s chief of staff.

KEY FACTS

Chief Critic

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser told CNN that she and district officials “were very shocked, and quite frankly outraged, that people who were not violating the curfew and who did not seem to have provoked attack were attacked and moved out by federal law enforcement officials to clear the way for the president.”

Key background

As protests sparked by the death of George Floyd entered their seventh night, Trump made a White House speech proclaiming himself a “law and order president” as police clashed with protesters in the nearby streets. Trump said he might invoke a centuries-old law, the Insurrection Act, to deploy the U.S. military to states that could not quell civil unrest, such as looting and property destruction. Bowser had set a 7 p.m. curfew for the district, but police began forcing protesters from the area around St. John’s about a half hour prior. Tear gas and flashbangs sent protesters running, and some were yelling “Hands up! Don’t shoot!” at police. After Trump concluded his address, he walked with Attorney General Bill Bar, Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, senior White House advisor Jared Kushner and daughter Ivanka Trump to the church. Once there, Trump proceeded to hold up a Bible in what appeared to be a staged photo opportunity. Religious leaders resoundingly denounced the move. “He did not seek to unify the country, but rather he used our symbols and our sacred space as a way to reinforce a message that is antithetical to everything that the person of Jesus,” Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde of D.C.’s Episcopal Diocese told NPR.

Further reading

D.C. mayor’s office says federal officials floated idea of taking over D.C. police (Washington Post)

Inside the push to tear-gas protesters ahead of a Trump photo op (Washington Post)

Trump Threatens To Deploy Troops To End Protests After Tear Gas, Flashbangs Shot At Peaceful Demonstrators Outside White House (Forbes)

Trump Says He May Invoke The Obscure Insurrection Act To Quell Protests⁠—Here’s What That Means (Forbes)

Before Trump’s Photo-Op, Police Forcibly Removed Priest From Church Grounds (Forbes)