Bowser: We Want Out-Of-State Troops Out Of DC

WASHINGTON, DC — D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser reiterated her strong opposition Thursday to the presence of federal law enforcement and out-of-state military personnel deployed on District streets in response to peaceful protests around the city.

Bowser said she has only requested the help of the D.C. National Guard to assist the Metropolitan Police Department with traffic. However, members of the U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Park Police, the FBI, as well as other federal military assets, have been acting in the District without her request and under the direction of U.S. Attorney General William Barr.

On Monday, federal law enforcement officers used tear gas and rubber bullets to push back a crowd of demonstrators in Lafayette Park, so that President Donald Trump could have his picture taken holding a Bible, as he stood in front of St. John's Episcopal Church.

Since then, federal forces have extended the perimeter out from Lafayatte Park to H Street and on Wednesday night as far as K Street. They've also added higher fencing around the White House complex.

During a Thursday afternoon public safety briefing, Bowser expressed concern about federal law enforcement officers pushing out from the federal complex surrounding the White House, into streets that would normally be MPD's responsibility to control.

Bowser said she has been in communication with the federal officials about her concerns and mentioned that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi had reached out to her.

"We are in communication to communicate our needs. Absolutely," she said. "And to communicate, obviously the very first thing is we want the military, we want troops from out of state, out of Washington, D.C."

Bowser said she had been conferring with legal scholars and D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine about whether the president has the authority to request National Guard troops from other states to be deployed in the District. While she does have the authority to do that herself, she has only requested help from the D.C. National Guard.

"People have to understand the root cause and be willing to do something about the root cost," she said. "We are the nation's capital, a federal district. We're more than 700,000 tax-paying Americans who don't have full representation in the Congress and don't have full autonomy. And so until we fix that, we are subject to the whims of the federal government. Sometimes they're benevolent and sometimes they're not."

Bowser's remarks came after the sixth day of protests in the District in reaction to the death of George Floyd last week in Minneapolis while in the custody of police.

Police Chief Peter Newsham said he was happy to share some positive news about Wednesday's peaceful demonstrations in the city as well as about future demonstrations.

"There were zero arrests associated with the peaceful demonstrations that we had here in our city," he said. "There was no damage to MPD property. There was no MPD injuries. Moving forward over the next couple of days and we expect more of the same."

Bowser announced at the meeting she was not going to be implementing a curfew on Thursday night.

The police chief confirmed he was aware of information on social media channels suggesting a peaceful demonstration planned for Saturday may be the largest that the city has had.

"We expect that Saturday's demonstration will be more of the same, peaceful demonstrators coming to exercise their First Amendment right in Washington, D.C.," he said.

Newsham shared the following statistics from the first six consecutive days of protests:

• Number of Arrests: Friday (0), Saturday (19), Sunday (90), Monday (289), Tuesday (29), Wednesday (0)
• State of Origin: D.C. (44%), Maryland (13%), Virginia (4%), Unknown (8%)
• Charges Filed: Curfew violation (63%), Rioting (11%), Burglary (10%)

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Bowser: Armed National Guard, Army Not Wanted On DC Streets

Until we fix #DCStatehood, we are subject to whims of the Federal Government. Sometimes they're benevolent, and sometimes they're not. We have to fix this. https://t.co/n5LgN1TILK pic.twitter.com/fcdk5ZmE9J
— Mayor Muriel Bowser #StayHomeDC (@MayorBowser) June 4, 2020