'No one knows who's in charge' in DC as agents joke about 'a federal funeral': report
Donald Trump's decision to declare an emergency in the nation's capital to put down a non-existent crime wave is off to a ragged start, NBC News is reporting.
Despite violence in Washington D.C. being at a 30-year low, the president put on a big show for reporters on Monday, announcing the federal government would be assuming control of the D.C. police department after federal agents had already hit the streets the night before.
As the report notes, the first wave of increased law enforcement has not gone smoothly due to a lack of direction.
"A senior law enforcement official told NBC News that an initial federal effort this weekend was chaotic. As many as 120 FBI agents, mostly from the FBI Washington Field Office, worked shifts with the Metropolitan Police Department this weekend, the official said. But agents were confused about their exact role on the streets and whom they reported to at any given time," NBC reported.
According to one federal official, "No one knows who is in charge or what they're supposed to do."
Case in point, they noted, federal agents have taken to following police cars in case they're needed, with one agent joking it looks like a "federal funeral."
According to retired police chief Art Acevedo, who served in Austin, Miami and Houston, "Not only is it unprecedented, it’s unwarranted. There’s no reason for it other than the political optics sought by the administration to pretend that crime is out of control and they are the saviors.”
Donell Harvin, a former homeland security and intelligence chief for Washington, D.C, agreed and told NBC News, "To just flood the streets of D.C. with law enforcement” and “taking over D.C. local police, it seems like a half-baked idea looking for a problem.”
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