DC’s attorney general says Trump’s police takeover is illegal and will ‘wreak operational havoc’ in the capital

·Donald TrumpDC’s attorney general says Trump’s police takeover is illegal and will ‘wreak operational havoc’ in the capitalBy Lindsay WhitehurstBy Ashraf KhalilBy Alanna Durkin RicherBy The Associated PressBy Lindsay WhitehurstBy Ashraf KhalilBy Alanna Durkin RicherBy The Associated Press President Donald Trump announced plans to deploy federal officers and the National Guard to the District in order to place the DC Metropolitan Police Department under federal control and assist in crime prevention in the nation's capital.Kayla Bartkowski/Getty ImagesThe nation’s capital sued to block President Donald Trump’s takeover of its police department in court on Friday, hours after his administration escalated its intervention into the city’s law enforcement by naming a federal official as the new emergency head of the department

Washington’s police department chief said that a Trump administration order installing a federal official as its head would upend command structure and be a “dangerous” threat to law and order

Police Chief Pamela Smith’s statement came in a court filing as the city seeks to block the federal takeover of its police department in court

Washington’s top legal official sought an emergency restraining order in federal court blocking a Trump administration move to put a federal official in charge of its police

District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb argues the police takeover is illegal and threatens to “wreak operational havoc.” The lawsuit comes after U.S

Attorney General Pam Bondi said Thursday night that Drug Enforcement Administration boss Terry Cole will assume the police chief’s duties and apval authority for any orders issued to officers

It was un where the move left the city’s current police chief, Smith, who works for the mayor

This is the gravest threat to Rule that the District has ever faced, and we are fighting to stop it,” Schwalb said

The Justice Department declined to on the district’s lawsuit, and a White House spokesperson did not immediately respond to messages seeking Friday morning

The police takeover is the move by Trump to test the limits of his legal authorities to carry out his agenda, relying on obscure statutes and a supposed state of emergency to bolster his tough-on-crime message and his plans to speed up the mass deportation of people in the United States illegally

It also marks one of the most sweeping assertions of federal authority over a local government in modern times

While Washington has grappled with spikes in violence and visible lessness, the city’s homicide rate ranks below those of several other major U.S. cities, and the capital is not in the throes of the public safety collapse the Trump administration has portrayed

Chief had agreed to immigration information Schwalb had said late Thursday that Bondi’s directive was “unlawful,” arguing it could not be ed by the city’s police force

He wrote in a memo to Smith that “members of MPD must continue to your orders and not the orders of any official not appointed by the Mayor,” setting up the legal clash between the heavily Democratic district and the Republican administration

The district’s attorney general is an elected position and the city’s top legal officer

It’s separate from federal U.S. attorney appointed by the president to serve in Washington, a role now filled by former Fox News Channel host and judge Jeanine Pirro

Trump also appointed Bondi as U.S. attorney general, the nation’s top law enforcement official

Bondi’s directive came even after Smith had told MPD officers hours earlier to information with immigration agencies regarding people not in custody, such as someone involved in a traffic stop or checkpoint

The Justice Department said Bondi disagreed with the police chief’s directive because it allowed for continued enforcement of “sanctuary policies,” which generally limit cooperation by local law enforcement with federal immigration officers

Bondi said she was rescinding that order as well as other MPD policies limiting inquires into immigration and preventing arrests based solely on federal immigration warrants

All new directives must now receive apval from Cole, the attorney general said

Trump is the first president to exert control over the city’s police force since it was passed

The law limits that control to 30 days without congressional apval, though Trump has suggested he’d seek to extend it

Schwalb argues the president’s role is narrow under the law, limited to requiring the mayor to vide police services for federal purposes

Residents are seeing a significant show of force A population already tense from days of ramp-up has begun seeing more significant shows of force across the city

National Guard troops watched over some of the world’s most renowned landmarks and Humvees took position in front of the busy main train station

Volunteers helped less people leave long-standing encampments — to where was often un

Department of land Security police stood outside Nationals Park during a game Thursday between the Washington Nationals and the Philadelphia Phillies

DEA agents patrolled The Wharf, a nightlife area, while Secret Service officers were seen in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood

Bowser, walking a tightrope between the Republican White House and the constituency of her largely Democratic city, was out of town Thursday for a family commitment in Martha’s Vineyard but would be back Friday, her office said

The uptick in visibility of federal forces around the city, including in many high-traffic areas, has been striking to residents going their s

Trump has the power to take over federal law enforcement for 30 days before his actions must be reviewed by Congress, though he has said he’ll re-evaluate as that deadline apaches

Officers set up a checkpoint in one of D.C.’s nightlife areas, drawing tests

Troops were stationed outside the Union Station transportation hub as the 800 Guard members who have been activated by Trump started in on missions that include monument security, community safety patrols and beautification efforts, the Pentagon said

Troops will assist law enforcement in a variety of roles, including traffic control posts and crowd control, National Guard Major Micah Maxwell said

The Guard members have been trained in de-escalation tactics and crowd control equipment, Maxwell said

National Guard troops are a semi-regular presence in D.C., typically being used during mass public events the annual July 4 celebration

They have regularly been used in the past for crowd control in and around Metro stations

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