File photo: District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb (Picture credit: AP)
Washington, DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb on Friday filed a federal lawsuit seeking to block US President Donald Trump’s takeover of the city’s Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).The legal challenge came hours after US Attorney General Pam Bondi named Drug Enforcement Administration chief Terry Cole as the department’s emergency commissioner.Why did the lawsuit happen now?Schwalb said the lawsuit asks the court to rule that Trump’s action is illegal.”The administration’s unlawful actions are an affront to the dignity and autonomy of the 700,000 Americans who call DC home,” he said. “This is the gravest threat to Home Rule that the District has ever faced, and we are fighting to stop it.”Bondi’s directive, issued Thursday night, gives Cole authority over the powers and duties of the police chief. She ordered that the MPD must receive Cole’s approval before issuing any directives.Mayor Muriel Bowser wrote that “there is no statute that conveys the District’s personnel authority to a federal official.”It remains unclear how the move affects Police Chief Pamela Smith, who works for the mayor.Neither Bondi’s office nor the White House responded immediately to requests for comment. What are the disputed directives?Bondi rescinded several MPD policies, including a recent directive from Smith allowing limited cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.The Justice Department said Bondi opposed the chief’s order because it still allowed so-called “sanctuary policies” that restrict local law enforcement’s ability to assist in immigration enforcement.Smith had instructed Metropolitan Police Department officers to share information with immigration agencies about people not in custody, such as those stopped at traffic checks. However, she said other MPD policies remain in place, restricting inquiries into immigration status and prohibiting arrests based solely on federal immigration warrants.Schwalb told Smith in a memo that “members of MPD must continue to follow your orders and not the orders of any official not appointed by the Mayor.”How has Trump’s takeover been enforced?Trump said Monday he was deploying hundreds of National Guard troops to Washington and temporarily taking over the city’s police department to address what he called a crime emergency.Federal law enforcement agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and Customs and Border Protection have been patrolling streets and making arrests.Residents have reported a heavy federal presence, with Humvee vehicles positioned at Union Station and National Guard troops at major landmarks.
