In the weeks since Alligator Alcatraz opened deep within the Everglades in southern Florida, there have been mounting reports of the horrific conditions inside: Maggots in the food, sewage overflowing near beds, people having to remove fecal matter from the toilets with their bare hands due to a lack of water. To protest the conditions, detainees have launched a hunger strike, which likely continues, despite the Department of Homeland Security’s attempts to deny and suppress information about it.
Construction at Alligator Alcatraz could be halted indefinitely in the wake of a lawsuit filed by environmental groups and an Indigenous tribe arguing the detention center’s development on protected wetlands violates environmental laws. Another suit brought by the ACLU claims detainees’ constitutional rights are being violated. Florida seems undeterred. The state is planning to build a second detention center at a correctional institution that was shuttered in 2021 after numerous reports of excessive violence and abuse of inmates by guards. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is calling the facility “the deportation depot.”
This scary reality is snowballing in its brutality as President Donald Trump and his administration, Republican politicians and large swaths of the American population continue to broaden the cultural profile of who we deem dangerous enough to lock up. Several states are developing similar concentration camps, including one at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, and an Indiana facility dubbed “The Speedway Slammer.” I’m not surprised.
I’m also not surprised that Florida is leading the way in building these facilities. The U.S. has the largest incarcerated population in the world, and Florida locks up a higher percentage of its people than any independent democratic country on earth. To date, no other state has spent as much effort collaborating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during the second Trump administration. Following DeSantis’ special session on immigration in January, the Sunshine State passed laws requiring local jurisdictions to enter into agreements with ICE and offering a $1,000 bonus to local officers participating in ICE raids and operations. Immigration detention in Florida quadrupled in less than six months. As the state runs out of space, Florida jails are being used to house detainees, exacerbating overcrowded conditions and forcing people to sleep on the floor. When ICE staff opposed the plans to use Florida jails as ICE detention facilities because it would violate current federal regulations and standards, a local sheriff dismissed the claims, calling them “woke.”
Prisoners in the Florida Department of Corrections system are often held under many of the same inhumane conditions present at Alligator Alcatraz. My uncle is one of them.
I’ve visited him in facilities up and down the state: In detention centers; maximum security units; psych wards; private correctional institutions; facilities with barbed wire fences, search dogs and rooftops decorated with armed guards; places in towns so small the only store for miles is a Piggly Wiggly.
I don’t pretend that many of Florida’s prisoners are not guilty of the crimes they’ve been charged with, and I won’t downplay the severity of the crimes committed — my uncle’s included. Unlike the detainees held in Alligator Alcatraz, they have ostensibly been given due process, though we could argue about the justice system’s version of the right that is often applied to Black, brown and poor people. Regardless of the circumstances, however, I believe every person deserves to be treated with dignity and humanity. I don’t believe that violence and cruelty has ever nudged anyone toward a better version of themselves.
One Wednesday in May, I woke up to frantic voicemails from my mom. My uncle had been stabbed multiple times, and she wasn’t sure if he was alive or dead. It had happened two days earlier, but she’d just found out that morning from a fellow prisoner’s girlfriend. Details were spotty. My uncle was an inmate at Dade Correctional Institution, a facility in south Miami deemed the “deadliest in Florida” by the Miami Herald following an investigation into a record number of inmate deaths in 2017. An earlier investigation into the facility revealed that officers had made “sport” of tormenting mentally ill inmates, including forcing inmates into a specially rigged, scalding hot shower as punishment for unruly behavior.
My uncle had been transferred to the facility from another prison a few years ago because Dade Correctional Institution has an Americans With Disabilities Act unit and he, a lifer, has gone deaf from decades of loud, echoing conditions.
Since he’s deaf, he didn’t hear the man — or men — coming up on him with the knife. Despite our many requests, the Florida Department of Corrections has not gotten him a hearing aid that doesn’t beep loudly in his ears, so he prefers to stay in his own, soundless world.
I imagined him walking into the same yard where we’ve sat for visits, thinking about how he’ll get to pet his favorite rescue dog later, the one corrections officers bring in for training. He prefers the dogs to humans, saying they’re the only redeeming thing about the place. In my mind, he was thinking about the dog when he was surrounded by the other men. He was thinking about the dog as the knife pierced his skin, plunging into the back of his neck and then into his ear. I imagined and reimagined the scene, watching him get caught by surprise, his eyes widening at the pain.
Did he fall to the ground? Call out for help? The woman who called my mom said four other inmates were also stabbed, and that corrections officers were involved, but it’s impossible to verify.
There are so many questions. Did the officers provide the knife? Join in on the stabbing? Simply look the other way?
My mom and siblings and I called and emailed each of the prison’s classification officers, coordinators and wardens. This was not the first time in my uncle’s 30-year incarceration that we’ve had to hound the Florida Department of Corrections for answers about his well-being. It was not the first time we’ve received calls from another inmate’s girlfriend or relative about my uncle. There was the time, a few years ago at another facility, when he was taken to the medical unit for lesions in his stomach. He was kept on a gurney in a hallway for days without treatment. He was in so much pain he thought he might die, so he had a friend get in touch with us to let us know.
Then, like now, we called and tried to get information from the staff and were given the run around. The person with answers was always on break. The warden was never available. We were treated like nuisances for caring. They informed me I was not on “the list” to receive information, a bold-faced lie. I pleaded with anyone I could get on the line. They gave me one-word answers and told me to calm down in an almost bored tone. I cried, begging them to have some compassion, to imagine it was their loved one who was hurt.
I canceled a few work calls. Without thinking much about it, I texted my co-worker and told her my uncle was stabbed. She expressed alarm and concern. I kept calling, relaying information to my mom and siblings. I reached out to the media, including the writer who investigated Dade Correctional Institution years ago. She recommended that I request copies of my uncle’s inmate file, which is public record, and any incident reports involving his name. I did this and got nothing. I tried again — still, nothing. Unfortunately, none of this was newsworthy, and my sources inside were not considered credible, so the reporters I spoke with didn’t have much to go on. I reached out to an advocacy group and received a reply three months later stating that, due to a lack of resources and too much demand, they could not help me.
A coordinator at the prison eventually told us my uncle was alive, that he had received medical treatment and was being held in solitary confinement for his safety. We were given nothing else. When I asked why we weren’t notified of the incident, I was told that it’s the inmate’s responsibility to notify loved ones — as if he could call us after being stabbed multiple times, and while he was in solitary confinement with a disability that makes it difficult to communicate by phone.
Several weeks later, my uncle was transferred to another facility at the opposite end of the state. He had 28-day-old sutures he contemplated removing himself because they itched so badly. My fury was exhausting. My family and I stopped talking about the incident and went back to business as usual, putting money on his commissary, sending him books and figuring out how to get messages to him via the new facility’s byzantine communications systems. I dropped any hope of trying to get information about what happened, even from my uncle, who, speaking on a recorded line, just said, “Shit happens in here.” The upside, for him: At least the new facility has air conditioning.
The Eighth Amendment to the Constitution prohibits cruel and unusual punishment, including the denial of necessary medical care for inmates. But thanks to the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1996, it’s incredibly challenging for inmates to bring suits against this treatment, and just about 1% of all cases actually win. One ongoing lawsuit against Dade Correctional Institution concerns the lack of air conditioning that led to four inmates dying last year in Miami, where heat indexes can rise up to 115 degrees Fahrenheit. The Florida Department of Corrections sought to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that the deaths were not caused by heat, but a federal judge allowed the lawsuit to proceed. The majority of Florida’s prison housing units are not air-conditioned.
I imagine the detainees in Alligator Alcatraz without adequate shelter or air conditioning in the middle of hurricane season in a South Florida swamp. I think of the cavalier way Republican lawmakers have denied claims about the detention camp’s conditions. I think of Isidro Perez, the 75-year-old Cuban man who died in ICE custody at the Krome Detention Center in Miami in July. I think of the elderly prisoner in a wheelchair who begged for help in the heat at Dade Correctional Institution and died after being refused medical attention. I think of all the lives we have lost to the normalization of cruel punishment, and how many more there are to lose.
Over the last 50 years, our bureaucratic desensitization to incarceration has grown largely unchecked. Prisons are built quietly, out of sight from the public. Visiting my uncle, regardless of where he is, requires a long drive, countless forms and hours waiting, adherence to seemingly arbitrary rules that differ from place to place and can change at any moment without notice. The point is isolation, to forget about these people. To systematically dehumanize them — first prisoners, then immigrants — and to watch as the public starts to believe they don’t deserve to be treated like humans.
https://www.salon.com/2025/08/17/florida-desensitized-my-family-to-cruel-and-unusual-punishment
When it comes to immigrants who want to become citizens of the United States, the second-term government of Donald Trump has turned on the moral compass. Although “good moral character” has long been an essential part of the naturalization process, the DOHS is now looking into more detailed areas of an applicant’s life as opposed to just checking boxes, as has been routine for so long.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a new directive on Friday directing officers to give much more weight to whether an applicant’s character truly embodies American values, which go beyond just avoiding jail time.
As a result, immigrants who wish to become citizens after getting a green card will have to submit to a more extensive and private assessment of their contributions, behavior, and even violations of traffic laws!
For many years, the term “good moral character” has been a part of U.S. immigration law. Naturalization applicants already had to prove they were not “habitual drunkards,” d–g traffickers, or convicted murderers.
Even so, the Trump administration wants officers to start digging deeper.
The memo encourages officers to perform a “holistic assessment” of an applicant’s life rather than just relying on a mechanical checklist that looks for serious crimes. Community involvement, caregiving responsibilities, lawful employment, time spent in the United States, tax history, and academic achievements must now be taken into account throughout the review process.
To put it simply, you might rack up moral points by raising your children, filing your taxes, and helping out at the local food bank. Yet, because of the increased scrutiny, even legally allowed behaviors that were previously thought of as trivial, such as constantly reckless driving, harassment, or “aggressive solicitation,” can now be used against you.
Officers have more discretion as a result of this change. However, they also have more freedom to reject applicants for reasons that are not going to be clear to them at the time of application or even after it gets rejected.
According to the USCIS memo, “acts that are contrary to the average behavior of citizens in the jurisdiction where aliens reside” may be taken into account. It also means that a person’s bid for citizenship may be seriously limited by a poor driving record in California or unpaid child support in Texas — all pointing to their so-called “moral character.”
The goal is to raise the standard for what it means to be an American. The policy seeks to “restore integrity” to the naturalization process, according to agency chief spokesman Matthew Tragesser, who spoke to ABC News. According to him, “U.S. citizenship is the gold standard of citizenship — it should only be offered to the world’s best of the best.”
Donald Trump’s larger political message (that citizenship is a privilege rather than a right and ought to be saved for people who actively uphold American values instead of just adhering to the law) is made possible by this framing.
The new policy, which puts stricter standards and gives immigration officers greater flexibility, is also in line with the administration’s ongoing attempts to restrict possible paths to citizenship.
Critics perceive a more cynical element at work, though. Joe Biden-era USCIS official Doug Rand contends the new rule was created to scare new applicants away. Rand claims that the administration is, in essence, discouraging legal immigrants from applying for citizenship by broadening the definition of “bad moral character” to include minor, non-criminal behavior.
Rand told ABC News, “They’re trying to increase the grounds for denial of U.S. citizenship by (…) torturing the definition of good moral character to encompass extremely harmless behavior.”
Between 600,000 and 1 million immigrants become citizens of the United States each year, the Irish Star reports.
Years of legal residency, civics and English proficiency exams, and strict background checks are already part of the complex process. Now, staying true to constantly changing standards is more vital than avoiding crimes when defining “good moral character.”
Donald Trump‘s deployment of National Guard troops to the nation’s capital and forcing a federal law enforcement takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department is not only terrorizing residents and workers, it’s also harming local businesses. Washington, D.C., restaurants are experiencing significant drops in reservations, and bars are seeing fewer customers.
Online reservations for D.C. restaurants plunged more than 25 percent in the days immediately after Trump announced the takeover of D.C. police for the first time in the country’s history, according to OpenTable data, WUSA 9’s Jordan Fischer reported.
Trump announced the authoritarian occupation on Monday, and OpenTable reservations decreased by 16 percent compared to the same day last year. By Tuesday, reservations were down 27 percent. By Wednesday, that number rose to 31 percent.
This is not part of a national trend. Nationally, restaurants saw 12 percent gains in OpenTable reservations.
D.C. bar owners are noticing a similar disturbing decline in business, The Advocate reported. Crush Dance Bar, a LGBTQ+ inclusive business, saw a 75 percent drop in business this past Thursday. On Friday, business was just half of what they usually see.
“Washingtonians leaving the city to avoid the chaos on top of a reduction of tourism is crippling small businesses,” Crush’s co-owner, Mark Rutstein, told The Advocate.
Dave Perruzza, who owns gay D.C. sports bars Pitchers and A League of Her Own, said he lost an estimated $7,000 in just one night and noticed fewer people came from out of town.
“Thursdays are all local, but Fridays and Saturdays we get people from out of town, and we just had none of them. It was awful,” he told The Advocate.
People may be avoiding D.C. streets due to a rise in law enforcement presence, including immigration checkpoints, which have been met with protesters screams of “Go home, fascists.” One officer at a checkpoint said they were looking at drivers’ “driving eligibility” and “status.”
According to Attorney General Pam Bondi, federal and local law enforcement have arrested 300 people during the crackdown on D.C. Law enforcement has also targeted numerous homeless encampments since the federal takeover, destroying the belongings of countless unhoused people. Trump has said he wants to ship unhoused people to locations “FAR” outside the district.
Sadly, it looks like conditions in the capital will only get worse, and the possibility of military violence against civilians will increase.
More troops — approximately 700, nearly doubling the current number of troops in D.C. to around 1500 — are on the way from Ohio, West Virginia, and South Carolina. The Wall Street Journal first reported Saturday that National Guard members were preparing to carry weapons, and a National Guard spokesperson told CBS News that deployed Guard members “may be armed consistent with their mission and training.”
Despite Trump’s insistence that the occupation is in response to crime and his claim that D.C. is facing “the worst violent crime ever,” the statistics show that violent crime in the capital is down 26 percent compared to last year. Last year, violent offenses reached their lowest levels in three decades.
“We are not experiencing spikes in crime,” D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said last Sunday on MSNBC. “In fact, we’re watching our crime numbers go down.”
Blue cities and states are hurting in other ways, thanks to Trump’s immigration policies, CNN reported. The number of private sector workers in California decreased by 750,000 from May to July, with Hispanic and Asian Americans making up the majority of losses. In New York City as well, fewer Hispanic men are participating in the labor force.
The occupation may not end with D.C. The capital and Los Angeles are testing grounds for the administration to prepare to militarize law enforcement in other Democratically-led cities. As Rolling Stone reported, the administration is already drawing up plans to do so.
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/trump-occupation-dc-local-businesses-1235410277
The sunlight dimmed along this stretch of U Street to the familiar soundtrack of a city ready for the weekend: rumbling buses taking home tired commuters, high heels clacking along sticky sidewalks and chattering crowds ready to order their first round.
Then a group gathered on a street corner with pots and pans, jingling them as the darkness grew closer. They whooped and cheered for a few minutes, a brief moment of joyful resistance seeking to counteract the image of the crime-ridden city described by the president.
Among the clubgoers in miniskirts and sweat-soaked T-shirts, there were federal agents hopping in and out of unmarked cars. A protester held a sign reading “America has no kings.” Police officers were met with boos and phones ready to record.
Welcome to the first Friday night in D.C. since President Donald Trump announced he was placing the local police under federal control and sending in National Guard troops to a city where 9 in 10 voters cast ballots for his opponent. The next morning, the White House would announce that the overnight operation yielded 52 arrests and the seizure of three illegal firearms. Twenty-two multiagency teams were deployed throughout the city.
Trump justified the exertion of executive power to reduce crime by depicting the city as a lawless wasteland, despite violent crime reaching 30-year lows. But many of those gathered around the bars and clubs in Northwest Washington on Friday night said they felt more unsettled by the federal presence than any other safety concerns.
Washington Post journalists spent Friday night in a popular section of U Street — a nightlife hub that is among the areas of the city with the highest number of crimes reported this year. Earlier this summer, D.C. police implemented a youth curfew over concerns about rowdy crowds in some areas.
Nearby, two nights earlier, a mix of local and federal authorities pulled over drivers for seat belt violations or broken taillights while onlookers chanted: “Go home, fascists.”
On Friday, crowds were smaller, bartenders and club managers said, and they wondered if patrons were staying inside to avoid federal authorities. And yet, there were still people ready to party.
The largest police response The Post witnessed Friday night was over a claim of a stolen bike. It was around 8:30 p.m., and the sky was ink blue.
One couple heading home from an event at a nearby synagogue looked on with furrowed brows. They spotted a few D.C. police cruisers blocking traffic and agents donning vests labeled “HSI” — Homeland Security Investigations. They hadn’t seen that before, not here.
A pair of French tourists, in D.C. for the first time and looking for a bar, paused when they saw the police cruisers and growing crowd. Earlier, they had strolled by the White House and marveled at the Capitol, and now they were trying to make sense of the flashing lights.
They had loosely followed the week’s headlines and were still thrilled to be visiting.
“We’re on vacation, so we try to cut [out] the news,” Solène Le Toullec said, and they walked on.
At the sight of local and federal law enforcement throughout the night, people pooled on the sidewalk — watching, filming, booing.
“Get out!”
“Go!”
“Quit!”
Such interactions played out again and again as the night drew on. Onlookers heckled the police as they did their job and applauded as officers left.
…
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/a-night-in-d-c-after-trump-s-national-guard-deployment/ar-AA1KFJnn
Hernan Rafael Castro and Gonzalo Ladron de Guevara are two of the latest permanent residents arrested amid heightened immigration enforcement under President Donald Trump. Castro faces charges for allegedly providing false information on his naturalization application, while Guevara was detained after returning from Mexico. These cases have raised concerns among Democratic leaders over the treatment of legal residents and potential violations of due process.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) stated, “Possessing a green card is a privilege, not a right.”
Law Professor Amelia Wilson stated, “The law contained within the Immigration and Nationality Act is clear.” She added, “The Department of Homeland Security cannot unilaterally ‘revoke’ a permanent resident’s status.”
Wilson said, “There is a process the agency must follow, including serving the individual with a ‘Notice of Intent to Rescind,’ at which time that individual is entitled to a hearing before an immigration judge.”
Wilson wrote, “During these proceedings, it is the government that bears the burden of proving by clear, unequivocal, and convincing evidence that the permanent resident should have their status taken away. At that point it is the immigration judge—and only the immigration judge—who can effectively strip an individual of their green card.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Arizona charged Castro with falsely denying a past drug arrest on his naturalization form. He has pleaded not guilty and now faces possible deportation.
Guevara was detained after returning from Mexico, where he reportedly scattered his mother’s ashes. His family has reportedly been unable to visit Guevara for over a month.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/two-legal-residents-arrested-sparking-outrage/ar-AA1KGMBw
The nation’s capital is the scene of a high-stakes legal and political showdown after D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb fired a shot across the bow of the federal government, declaring the city is “not legally obligated” to comply with an executive order aimed at dismantling its sanctuary policies.
The clash began Thursday when Attorney General Pam [“Bimbo #3”] Bondi issued an executive order that sought to end the city’s protections for undocumented immigrants and place the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) under federal control. The order even named Drug Enforcement Administrator chief Terrence C. Cole as the new head of the MPD.
But in a swift and sharp rebuke, Schwalb penned a letter to MPD Chief Pamela Smith, urging her to ignore [“Bimbo #3”] Bondi’s directive. “It is my opinion that the [“Bimbo #3”] Bondi order is unlawful, and that you are not legally obligated to follow it,” Schwalb wrote in a letter shared by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser on social media.
Schwalb’s letter reinforced the local chain of command, reminding Chief Smith that she was “duly appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by the Council” and that MPD members must follow her orders—not those from a federally appointed official.
The dramatic back-and-forth unfolds as the Trump administration continues its federal takeover of the city, citing rampant crime as the justification for deploying federal law enforcement and National Guard troops.
Earlier on Thursday, Chief Smith had already signaled a shift, issuing a memo that increased cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). That memo, praised by Department of Homeland Security officials as an “important first step,” still maintained some restrictions, prohibiting officers from arresting individuals solely on immigration warrants.
But [“Bimbo #3”] Bondi’s subsequent order went much further, rescinding not only those restrictions but also putting the federal government in charge of the city’s police force—a move that local leaders say oversteps federal authority and infringes on D.C.’s limited autonomy.
The Department of Justice and the MPD have remained silent on the matter, leaving the city in a state of legal limbo. The outcome of this unprecedented dispute could have far-reaching implications, setting a precedent for the balance of power between the federal government and local jurisdictions across the nation.
ICE has joined the Trump cabinet in the group chat disaster club.
Law enforcement officials from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other agencies accidentally added a stranger to their group chat, exposing highly sensitive information about a manhunt, according to a 404 Media report published Thursday.
The blunder echoes the infamous Signal chat fiasco, in which a journalist was inadvertently included in a text chain where top members of the Trump administration discussed impending air strikes in Yemen.
The ICE messages, which discuss an active search for a convicted attempted murderer slated for deportation, were sent via MMS, or Multimedia Messaging Service, and were not end-to-end encrypted like messages on Signal or WhatsApp.
Officials reportedly texted an ICE “Field Operations Worksheet” on Wednesday that revealed detailed information about the person being sought—including their Social Security number—and DMV and license plate reader data, 404 Media reported.
The outlet labeled the incident a “significant data breach and operational security failure for ICE.”
404 Media reported that the group chat had six members, verifying one as an ICE official and identifying another as likely from the U.S. Marshals Service.
The Daily Beast has reached out to ICE and the U.S. Marshals Service for comment.
The person mistakenly added to the group chat is not a law enforcement official and had no connection to the manhunt, according to 404 Media. They told the outlet they were added weeks ago and assumed the messages were spam—until they received the ICE worksheet and license plate numbers.
404 Media, which said it obtained and verified screenshots from the group chat, has withheld the person’s identity to protect them from retaliation.
In Wednesday’s messages, the law enforcement officials discussed the search for their target and their next moves.
“Going to need to roll out at 1000,” one member texts the chat, called “Mass Text.”
“Copy. We can break it down at 10,” another replies.
The unintended recipient told 404 Media that the messages stopped coming shortly thereafter.
In what became known as “Signalgate,” Trump cabinet members, including Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, discussed classified attack plans for airstrikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen on a Signal chat.
Since January, ICE has taken nearly 150,000 people into custody, with about 100,000 having pending charges or prior convictions. A Rasmussen Reports survey found that 83% of likely voters consider deporting criminal illegal immigrants important. MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow has criticized ICE operations, comparing them to an unaccountable police force.
Maddow’s program showed footage of ICE arrests while she criticized the agency’s aggressive enforcement methods. She stated that “the thing we were all warning about for the last few years … is here.”
Maddow said, “We have a consolidating dictatorship in our country. And it sounds melodramatic to say it, I know, but just go with that for a minute, right?” She added, “Think in melodramatic terms. Think in cinematic terms. Imagine the cartoon-level caricature of what you think a dictatorship looks like.”
Maddow concluded by noting that ICE has been “breaking people’s car windows and snatching people off the streets and at church parking lots and courtroom hallways and taking them away with no charges.”
Conservative commentator Dinesh D’Souza rejected claims of dictatorship and has supported tougher enforcement. D’Souza wrote, “If this is dictatorship, let’s have more of it. Of course it’s not.”
Critics have questioned ICE tactics and respect of civil liberties. Maddow said, “I mean, it’s secret police, right? A massive, anonymous, unbadged, literally masked, totally unaccountable internal police force that apparently has infinite funding but no identifiable leadership.”
D’Souza added, “Rather, the Left is furious, and alarmed, that its thugs are no longer in charge.”
The federal takeover of policing in Washington D.C. sparked protests near Union Station Thursday night,with demonstrators calling police and National Guard officers “Nazis.”
“You guys safe over here? You guys safe? Are you guys being murdered?” one protester was heard sarcastically asking officers. Others said they are “betraying” the country and “terrorizing the community.”
“You will never know a moment of peace,” one man said, accusing the officers of being “Nazis.”
“Sad incel car. Sad incel car, look at that,” a woman shouted as a Tesla Cybertruck is stopped.
“Y’all are the reason why our country is going downhill,” a protester shouted at officers during a traffic stop.
President Donald Trump announced the move on Monday, and the National Guard and a variety of federal agencies, including ICE and the FBI, have been patrolling and conducting operations throughout the city. Some arrests have already been made, including dozens of illegal immigrants.
Attorney General Pam [“Bimbo #2”] Bondi initially ordered that Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Terry Cole be in charge of the Metropolitan Police Department as an “emergency police commissioner,” although that directive was later changed to ensure Cole worked with Mayor Muriel Bowser. [“Bimbo #2”] Bondi also ordering more compliance between local police and federal immigration authorities.
Democrats have criticized the takeover as an overreach, with members of Congress asking for a resolution to terminate the “crime emergency” that was declared by the Trump administration.
“President Trump’s incursions against D.C. are among the most egregious attacks on D.C. home rule in decades. D.C. residents are Americans, worthy of the same autonomy granted to residents of the states,” Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, who represents D.C. as a delegate, said in a statement.
“Our local police force, paid for by D.C. residents, should not be subject to federalization, an action that wouldn’t be possible for any other police department in the country. No emergency exists in D.C. that the president did not create himself, and he is not using the D.C. Police for federal purposes, as required by law,” she added.
Meanwhile, the White House blasted the resolution, as the Trump administration said the intention is to lower crime in the capital city.
“But instead of supporting what should be a bipartisan measure to Make DC Safe Again, Democrats are burying their heads in the sand, denying there is a problem, and carrying the torch for dangerous criminals that terrorize DC communities,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital.
“D.C. residents know the reality on the ground – crime was out of control and President Trump’s actions are making the city safer. The left’s refusal to support widely popular issues with the American public – like stopping violent crime – are why their approval ratings are at historic lows and will continue to tank,” she added.
The city is suing over the action, arguing that it hinders the ability of the district to self-govern.
“We are suing to block the federal government takeover of D.C. police. By illegally declaring a takeover of MPD, the Administration is abusing its temporary, limited authority under the law. This is the gravest threat to Home Rule DC has ever faced, and we are fighting to stop it,” D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb posted to X on Friday.
“The federal government’s power over DC is not absolute, and it should not be exercised as such. Section 740 of the Home Rule Act permits the President to request MPD’s services. But it can only be done temporarily, for special emergencies, and solely for federal purposes,” he added.
