A total of 23 people were taken into custody after President Donald Trump federalised police in the US capital, the White House has said.
Spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said the arrests were made for a variety of offences, including homicide, drug crimes, fare evasion, driving under the influence and other crimes. Six illegal handguns were also recovered, she said on Tuesday.
"This is only the beginning," Leavitt told reporters at the White House. "Over the course of the next month, the Trump administration will relentlessly pursue and arrest every violent criminal in the district who breaks the law, undermines public safety, and endangers law-abiding Americans."
FBI Director Kash Patel also confirmed the number of arrests, saying this is only the beginning.
"We are just getting started. Federal partners joined local police and arrested 23 in total. When you let good cops be cops, they can clean up our streets and do it fast," Patel said on X.
It is unclear how the number of arrests compares to an average night before the Metropolitan Police Department was taken under federal control, but Leavitt said roughly 850 officers and federal agents were deployed to Washington, DC's streets on Monday night.
'Liberation day'
Trump has also authorised the deployment of the National Guard to the city, but it is unclear if any troops have yet made their way to Washington after Monday's announcement.
"This is liberation day in DC, and we're going to take our capital back. We're taking it back," Trump had said on Monday. "I'm deploying the National Guard to help re-establish law and order and public safety in Washington, DC, and they're going to be allowed to do their job properly."
Trump said he would be deploying 800 National Guard troops to the US capital, and held the door open to sending even more, saying, "We will bring in the military if needed."
According to statistics, DC has one of the highest crime rates across the country.
It is home to many of the US government branches and buildings, including the White House, the Capitol (Congress), the Department of Justice, the Treasury, the State Department, the FBI, the Secret Service and more.
