A recap of overnight events in DC
As the federal takeover of the DC police and deployment of national guard troops entered its fourth night, here’s a recap of what happened overnight.
The US attorney general, Pam Bondi, ended DC’s “sanctuary policies”. In a directive signed yesterday, she rescinded previous orders – including one from the DC police chief, Pamela Smith – that Bondi’s office says “limited” the Metropolitan police department (MPD) from working with federal officers. Bondi has now scrapped rules which prevent DC police from arresting people “solely for federal immigration warrants” and “restricted certain information from being shared with federal authorities,” a justice department spokesperson said.
Bondi also stripped power away from Smith, the police chief, and appointed Terry Cole – who leads the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) – as “emergency police commissioner”. According to her order, the MPD “must receive approval from Commissioner Cole” before issuing any further directives.
And today, the DC government announced it is suing the Trump administration for its takeover of the DC police. The district’s attorney general, Brian Schwalb, wrote: “Section 740 of the Home Rule Act permits the President to request MPD’s services … Even when Section 740 is lawfully invoked, the Home Rule Act keeps operational control of MPD with the Mayor and Chief, and the President must request MPD services through the Mayor.” He added that the federal government’s actions are “brazenly unlawful” and “infringe on the District’s right to self-governance”.
Meanwhile, federal law enforcement began conducting sweeps of homeless encampments. Crews tore down a major encampment near the Kennedy Center on Thursday, removing residents and clearing out the remaining encampments across the city. My colleague Kirstin Garriss has more on the latest here.