D.C. Sues Trump Administration Over ‘Unlawful’ Takeover of Police Department

 The suit challenges the ’emergency police commissioner’ who was named Thursday.

National Guard troops and the U.S. Capitol Police keep watch on Capitol Hill. AP/J. Scott Applewhite

Washington, D.C. is filing a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s takeover of the city’s police force, with the district’s attorney general accusing President Trump of going far beyond his legal authority.

“The administration’s unlawful actions are an affront to the dignity and autonomy of the 700,000 Americans who call D.C. home. This is the gravest threat to Home Rule that the District has ever faced, and we are fighting to stop it,” District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb said, according to the Associated Press.

Attorney General Pam Bondi named an “emergency police commissioner” for the nation’s capital on Thursday but city officials call the directive “unlawful” and say it cannot be followed by the Metropolitan Police Department.

Ms. Bondi’s directive named Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Terry Cole to the new role and granted him the “powers and duties vested” in the position. The directive also states that the police department needs approval from Commissioner Cole to issue any orders.

Late Thursday evening, D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb sent an opinion to Metro Police Chief Pamela Smith stating that the order was “unlawful, and that you are not legally obligated to follow it.”

Mayor Muriel Bowser posted the opinion on X and stated, “In reference to the U.S. Attorney General’s order, there is no statute that conveys the District’s personnel authority to a federal official.”

Mr. Schwalb went to U.S. District Court on Friday seeking an immediate order to block Ms. Bondi’s action, with a hearing scheduled for Friday afternoon.

In a sworn declaration to the court, Ms. Smith said that if carried out, the order “would upend the command structure of [the Metropolitan Police Department], endangering the safety of the public and law enforcement officers alike,” the Washington Post reported.

“In my nearly three decades in law enforcement, I have never seen a single government action that would cause a greater threat to law and order than this dangerous directive,” the police chief added.

Ms. Bondi also said she was rescinding sanctuary city policies and other city policies limiting inquiries into immigration status and preventing arrests based solely on federal immigration warrants.

Ms. Smith had told police officers hours earlier on Thursday to share information with immigration agencies regarding people not in custody, but Ms. Bondi said that wasn’t good enough because cooperation by local law enforcement with federal immigration officers was limited due to sanctuary policies.

The takeover came after Mr. Trump repeatedly claimed that Washington’s crime is out of control. He has also said homelessness has created safety issues.

Ms. Bondi claims federal authorities have already made more than 150 arrests and confiscated 27 guns.

“We are going to protect D.C. and make it safe again,” Ms. Bondi said in a TV interview. “Citizens are coming out of their homes and they are going up to these law enforcement officers and they’re thanking them for keeping them safe.”

https://www.nysun.com/article/d-c-sues-trump-over-unlawful-takeover-of-police-department