At an extraordinary news conference on Monday, President Donald Trump revealed plans to take over the Washington, D.C. police department and deploy National Guard troops in the nation’s capital to combat what he says it rampant violent crime that statistics show is actually decreasing.
“We’re here for a very serious purpose. Very serious, very,” Trump said. “Something’s out of control. But we’re going to put it in control very quickly, like we did in the southern border. I’m announcing a historic action to rescue our nation’s capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor and worse. This is Liberation Day in D.C., and we’re going to take our capital back.”
He said he was declaring a public safety emergency in order to put the Washington police department under federal control and station the National Guard on the city’s streets.
Contrary to the president’s claim, preliminary year-to-date crime comparisons from Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department show that overall crime in D.C. has decreased by 7% since last year, with violent crime down 26% and property crime reduced by 5%.
Read the full ABC News report.
