Trump's DC Police Takeover Sparks Jan 6 Backlash

US President Donald Trump has cited a non-existent crime epidemic to take control of Washington DC's police, but the fact remains that he is the biggest law-breaker in the city's modern history.

Trump

on Monday announced that he hadtaken over the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) of Washington DC. He also deployed 800 National Guard soldiers to the national capital and ordered around 500 additional federal agents, including over 100 from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and 40 from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), to patrol the capital's streets.

Even as Trump cited purported rising crime to justify his actions, the fact remains that he remains Washington DC's biggest

law-breaker as the driving force behind the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

As for the actual crime, data shows that it has fallen by 35 per cent since 2023, according to The New York Times.

Moreover, Trump remains Washington DC's and America's most high-profile criminal.

Trump was driving force of Jan 6 attack

On January 6, 2021, Trump egged on a mob of thousand of his supporters to attack the US Capitol, hijack the certification of the 2020 presidential election, and illegally overturn the election in his favour. The

episode remains the single largest act of crime in the city's modern history.

After falsely claiming for weeks that the 2020 election was stolen and he was the actual winner, Trump held a rally near the White House and told thousands of his supporters to "fight like hell" to stop the certification of the election in favour of the rightful winner Joe Biden. The supporters followed the incitement and attacked the US Capitol, taking over the Speaker's offices and Congressional chambers.

At least three

persons, including two attackers and a policeman, were killed directly in the violence that day and more than 150 law enforcement personnel from multiple forces and agencies involved in the response to the attack suffered injuries. Four policemen also died by suicide shortly after the attack.

In one of his first actions in his second term, Trump pardoned all of his supporters accused and convicted of attacking the Capitol at his incitement.

Overall, Trump pardoned around 1,600 persons charged and

convicted for attacking the US Capitol, including Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of White Supremacist, neo-Nazi militia Proud Boys, who was one of the organisers of the mob that attacked the Capitol, and Stewart Rhodes, the leader of racist, far-right militia Oath Keepers.

Trump is most high-profile criminal of Washington DC — and America

Even as Trump vowed to weed out the criminals from Washington DC, the fact remains that he is the capitol's —and the nation's— most high-profile criminal.

Trump is the only convicted criminal to be the president. He has been convicted of 34 felonies in the hush money case concerning illegal payments to porn actor Stormy Daniels.

Even as the court suspended any jail time owing to his being the president, Trump's conviction was never overturned and he remains a felon.