Unprecedented Move as FBI Floods D.C. Streets in Controversial Crackdown

Sweeping federal force converges on capital amid alarming rhetoric

Natalie C. Frank, Ph.D

U.S. Capitol Washington D.C. ; Nicolas Raymond/flickr [CC BY 2.0]

WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Trump has mobilized federal law enforcement to patrol the streets of Washington, D.C., leading to the arrival of around 120 FBI agents, many taken off of high-level counterintelligence and public corruption efforts. This has been a controversial move as their job in D.C. involves a situation they are not trained for, primarily local street-level crime enforcement.

This is the first time the Federal bureau deployed agents in such numbers to assist local authorities except under the most extreme circumstances. Critics complain this amounts to nothing more than political theater while jeopardizing national security. Trump’s order which has put these agents on D.C.'s streets, comes as he intensifies efforts to “immediately clear out the city’s homeless population and take swift action against crime.” He added a threat, saying that D.C. should, “Be prepared! There will be no ‘MR. NICE GUY.’ We want our Capital BACK.”

Frustration is growing inside the FBI, especially in the Washington Field Office. Many agents, whose expertise lies far from routine traffic stops or street enforcement, are being forced into roles they neither trained trained to handle nor signed up for. Additionally, their reassignment has occurred without even the slightest input from the Metropolitan Police Department, who is actually responsible for public safety in D.C.

Reports indicate that the newly assigned agents are working overnight patrols under a federal mandate, which is unprecedented in modern D.C. history. The move reopens wounds from 2020, when similar deployments prompted nationwide protests and fears of militarizing local public spaces.

The administration paints a frightening portrait of the capital, saying it is filled with violence that is rapidly increasing, including carjackings, and juvenile crime waves. This stance is supported by the widely circulated assault on Edward “Big Balls” Coristine, a former DOGE employee whose beating has become a symbol of urban decay in Trump’s D.C..

Yet, official data tells an entirely different story. Violent crime in D.C. has declined by 26 percent since 2024, while homicides have decreased by 12 percent. Juvenile arrests are nearly 20 percent lower than the same period last year, with only a fraction tied to violent crimes or carjackings. However, city leaders argue that local strategies, including curfews, community policing, and targeted law enforcement, are already showing results, making this federal blitz look more politically charged than based on evidence.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has pushed back forcefully, stating: “If the priority is to show force in an American city, we know he can do that here. But it won’t be because there’s a spike in crime.” Civil liberties advocates caution that mixing different agencies with different mandates into uniformed street patrols is a recipe for disaster. They point out that accountability for federal agents is far weaker than for local police, an important a concern that can't be ignored.

Beyond the fear of imposing on civil rights, there’s a larger constitutional issue that needs to be addressed. D.C. enjoys a degree of autonomy under the Home Rule Act of 1973, which gives residents a measure of self-governance. But Trump’s escalating tone and threats to federalize city law enforcement tramples on that principle, putting local leaders in an uneasy position.

Some legal experts have argued that for a full federal takeover to occur, Congress would need to revoke D.C.’s Home Rule, a politically dangerous and legally weak proposition. Still, the president’s insistence that “if D.C. doesn’t get its act together ... we will have no choice but to take Federal control of the City” hangs heavily over the city’s autonomy.

As marked federal units drive through tourist zones and landmarks, from the National Mall to Union Station, tensions are growing between those who want the capital to feel safe and those who feel that the optics of law enforcement are supplanting real effort to make the city safer. Images of federal agents patrolling Union Station have resulted in sharp criticism, with constant social media comparisons to authoritarian regimes being made.

Meanwhile, arrests tied to these operations are slowly coming in. U.S. Park Police, FBI, ATF agents, and others have already made arrests for stolen firearm possession, illicit drugs, including fentanyl-pills disguised as oxycodone. But skeptics question whether drug busts and seizures of gun related contraband offer a meaningful response to the complex situation involving crime and governance in D.C. or if they simply are intended to function as blunt symbols of presidential control.