More Than 1,900 Arrests Made In DC Since Federal Takeover Of Policing

Authored by Savannah Hulsey Pointer via The Epoch Times,

The Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Department and federal partners have conducted more than 1,900 arrests since President Donald Trump federalized policing in the nation’s capital. 

FBI Director Kash Patel announced on Sept. 5 that, in addition to the total arrests, in just the days of Sept. 4–5, there were 26 arrests involving FBI personnel, five gun recoveries, and four drug seizures.

Trump federalized the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department on Aug. 11, ordering about 800 National Guard troops to assist with law enforcement.

“I’m announcing a historic action to rescue our nation’s capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam, and squalor, and worse,“ Trump said at a White House press briefing at the time.

“This is Liberation Day in D.C., and we’re going to take our capital back.”

Attorney General Pam Bondi also lauded the federal cooperation by law enforcement, saying Department of Justice (DOJ) statistics show 73 total arrests for Sept. 4  alone. Bondi also said that since the federalization of policing in Washington, there have been 200 illegal guns taken off the streets. 

The same day, Patel also confirmed, in a post on X, the arrests of two suspects believed to have been involved in the murder of Capitol Hill intern Eric Tarpinian-Jachym.

Tarpinian-Jachym, 21, an intern for Rep. Ron Estes (R-Kan.) and a University of Massachusetts student, was shot and killed on June 30. At the time, police believed he was an innocent bystander in the shooting, which injured two others.

Bondi said in a Sept. 5 post on X that if convicted, the two suspects will face “severe justice,” and that she hopes it provides “some measure of solace to his family.”

Patel thanked members of the Metropolitan Police Department and said, “We are delivering on President Trump’s promise to make DC safe again.”

The National Guard presence in Washington has surged to nearly 2,300 troops, and the Pentagon mobilized another 1,700 National Guard members across 19 states to bolster federal immigration enforcement.

A Joint Task Force–D.C spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement on Aug. 24 that troops had arrived in Washington from West Virginia, South Carolina, Ohio, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Tennessee for a total of 2,270 National Guard members.

Trump has voiced an interest in sending National Guard troops to other major cities, including New York and Chicago, to enforce a similar crackdown on crime in major metropolitan areas. 

Meanwhile, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro announced the largest seizure of fentanyl and meth precursors in U.S. history, at a Sept. 3 news conference in Houston.

Pirro spoke to reporters while standing in front of 1,300 barrels of chemicals, and asked those in attendance to “imagine bodies where those barrels are,” saying the work of law enforcement would save lives by keeping drugs such as fentanyl off the streets.

Pirro said it would take 24 18-wheelers to transport the seized chemicals to a storage facility.