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D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb announced on Thursday he filed a lawsuit to counter the Trump administration’s crime crackdown in Washington, D.C.
President Donald Trump federalized D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department on Aug. 11 under the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, which allows the president to take emergency control of the police force for 30 days.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth later authorized soldiers and airmen to be armed in D.C. if their mission requires it.
“Armed soldiers should not be policing American citizens on American soil,” Schwalb wrote in the announcement on X. “DC did not request or consent to the deployment of National Guard troops. Yet there are 2,300 National Guardsmen on our streets in military gear, carrying weapons, and driving armored vehicles.”
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Schwalb said The Posse Comitatus Act prohibits the military from engaging in domestic policing, alleging National Guardsmen have been operating in D.C. under direct military command.
“This is plainly illegal, and it threatens our democracy and civil liberties,” he wrote.
“President Trump is well within his lawful authority to deploy the National Guard in Washington, D.C. to protect federal assets and assist law enforcement with specific tasks,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital in a statement. “This lawsuit is nothing more than another attempt—at the detriment of DC residents and visitors—to undermine the President’s highly successful operations to stop violent crime in DC.”
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Though the 30-day time period is set to expire next week, Vice President JD Vance on Aug. 20 suggested the mission may continue. Any extensions would need to be approved by Congress.
Schwalb claimed there is “no clear end date to this illegal deployment,” adding more troops arrived in the nation’s capital this week.
An Aug. 25 executive order expanded the role of the National Guard in domestic law enforcement by creating a specialized unit within the D.C. National Guard that is “dedicated to ensuring public safety and order in the nation’s capital.”
Schwalb noted that once troops leave, they could be redeployed at any point.
“The harms to the District are immense,” he wrote. “National Guard units are operating without lawful authority and without law enforcement training. They create confusion, sow fear, erode trust, inflame tensions, and harm the crucial relationship between police and communities they serve.”
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He went on to further accuse National Guardsmen of undermining public safety and hurting the local economy by depressing vital industries like restaurants, hotels and tourism.
“We are suing to defend DC home rule and stop the unlawful deployment of the National Guard,” Schwalb wrote. “Our nation was founded on the fundamental principles of freedom and self-governance that are stake in this case. No city in America should be subject to involuntary military occupation.”
The lawsuit comes days after a federal judge ruled the administration’s deployment of federal troops to Los Angeles during immigration raids and protests was illegal, garnering praise from California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.
It also follows a separate lawsuit Schwalb filed Aug. 15, which attempted to block the federal takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department—claiming the action violated the Home Rule Act.
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