President claims US capital ‘overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals … and homeless people’
US politics – live updates
Donald Trump placed the DC Metropolitan police department under federal control on Monday, deploying the national guard while describing a “lawless” city in ways that are sharply at odds with crime statistics reported by the police.
Invoking section 740, of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, the president vowed to allow police to “do whatever the hell they want” in the face of provocations. “That’s the only language they [alleged criminals] understand.
“They like to spit in the face of the police,” Trump said at the White House. “You spit, and we hit, and they get hit real hard.”
