00:00Federal law enforcement is out again here in Washington, D.C.
00:04This comes after President Trump's decision to federalize the police force in Washington, D.C.
00:11But this is already causing some community outrage. Watch.
00:15This was the scene overnight at a checkpoint along one of the city's busiest streets.
00:30Protesters made clear their feelings about the increased federal law enforcement presence.
00:35A commander with D.C. police told CNN it was a routine operation.
00:40Joining us now is Washington, D.C. City Council member Charles Allen.
00:45Charles, thanks so much for joining us.
00:47First of all, what do you know about this checkpoint set up on the very popular 14th Street near U Street Northwest here in Washington for those people who know the area?
00:57Is that typical for law enforcement in that area?
01:02Well, what's routine is that MPD will do and has been for a number of years conducting traffic safety checkpoints.
01:09That's everything from looking for impaired drivers to looking for outstanding warrants.
01:14They make arrests occasionally from that, but it's constitutional and legal, and we haven't had protests around those because they're largely effective.
01:21It's also where community policing takes place.
01:24MPD will even look to check and make sure someone's car seat is installed correctly.
01:28So those have been standard for the last several years.
01:30They've had good effect around getting at dangerous drivers.
01:33What's different is now you've got all these federal law enforcement folks.
01:37They don't wear a badge.
01:38They don't wear their name.
01:39They're covering their faces, and that's very different.
01:42And what you see from the community reaction is what I'm concerned about, that federal law enforcement fundamentally changes the dynamic of community policing.
01:50They're not trained for it.
01:51They're not equipped for it.
01:52And it just amps everything up in a way that's very unconstructive and can lead to actually more dangerous situations.
01:59President Trump just a little while ago said crime here in Washington, D.C. is, quote, totally out of control.
02:07His words, I'm quoting once again, worse than ever.
02:10What's your response to that?
02:13Well, we need to be able to call out the lie where it is, and that's just simply not true.
02:18He continues to say it, but it is not true.
02:20He's painted this dystopian vision, and it just doesn't track with the facts on the ground.
02:25Over the last two years, we have driven crime down by about 50 percent of violent crime.
02:31Now, listen, everybody will be the first to say any crime is one too many, and so we still have work to do.
02:37We still have progress.
02:38But that happens best with the coordination between the mayor, the council, the community, MPD, because that's what's gained and had the gains over the last several years.
02:47The federal law enforcement aspect, putting military members on the streets of our city, does not make us safer.
02:52Has the administration been communicative with local officials like yourself about its strategy here?
03:02Oh, I don't know if there really is a strategy.
03:05There's been no word from the administration to myself.
03:08When I talk to members of the council, we're not hearing anything, and I think that's part of the problem.
03:13It's even created chaos and disorder even within MPD, where command staff and officers on the ground aren't quite sure who's calling the shots, what is the strategy.
03:22So there's a lot of luster that we'll see from behind a podium or in front of a camera from the administration, but we're not seeing an actual coordinated strategy or, frankly, the willingness to come in as partners.
03:33And that's the problem, because there are a number of ways the federal government could come in as a partner, and that could actually be a good thing.
03:40But we're not seeing that.
03:42I want to play something for you, Councilman, and get your response on the other side.
03:46Listen and watch this.
03:47And then he took a Subway sandwich about this big and took it and threw it at the officer.
03:55He thought it was funny.
03:56Well, he doesn't think it's funny today because we charged him with a felony, assault on a police officer.
04:01And we're going to back the police to the hilt.
04:04So there, stick your Subway sandwich somewhere else.
04:08That was the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, Janine Pirro, describing an incident involving a man who allegedly threw a sandwich at a federal law enforcement officer.
04:19The individual has been charged with assaulting a federal police officer.
04:24Give me your reaction, Councilman, to all of this.
04:26I hope every American out there can understand the incredible irony that is taking place right now.
04:35The very same administration that pardoned hundreds, thousands of people who committed violent acts against our police officers here in D.C. on January 6th in an attempt to overtake the Capitol
04:46and pardoned all of those convictions on assaults on a police officer who tried to harm and kill our police officers.
04:54And she wants to throw the book at a guy that threw a sandwich.
04:57Take the irony of that, and that tells you everything you need to know about how serious they are actually trying to be.
05:03D.C. City Council Member Charles Allen, thanks once again for joining us.
05:08Appreciate it very, very much.
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