WASHINGTON, D.C. President Donald Trump on Wednesday said that Cleveland is among the cities that will see a surge of federal law enforcement agents in the coming weeks that he said aim to restore safety and peace in U.S. cities.
Trump announced during an event at The White House the expansion of a program, Operation LeGend, to support high crime communities to the greatest extent possible.
The administration intends to send agents to several cities, including personnel from the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Department of Homeland Security. Neither the president nor the other participants specifically mentioned Cleveland during the event, though The White House did in an email and in a summary of events on its website.
A source familiar with planning for the initiative in Cleveland said it dovetails with Operation Relentless Pursuit, which U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman announced in December during a news conference flanked with local and federal law enforcement.
The source differentiated the surge from the agents recently sent to Portland, which raised the alarm of civil rights advocates who said the agents did not identify themselves on their uniforms and detained people without cause before later releasing them without charges.
In Cleveland, were talking about traditional crime fighting, the source said, adding that its not guys in body armor dealing with protesters.
Cleveland officials contacted Wednesday said they were not aware of the anticipated surge.
Trump said the Justice Department-led new program was named in honor of LeGend Taliferro, a 4-year-old boy from Kansas City who was killed in his bed when a gunman opened fire in his apartment complex. Officials launched the initiative there.
The Justice Department will first send more agents to Chicago and Albuquerque. Federal officials plan to send more agents to Cleveland, along with Detroit and Milwaukee, within the next three weeks, according to The White Houses website.
The White House said the program would provide more than $61 million in Justice Department money to help local police departments hire more officers and will permanently reassign roughly 200 agents and deputy marshals to the cities it covers.
This is a different kind of operation, obviously, than the tactical teams we use to defend against riots and mob violence. , U.S. Attorney General William Barr said during the event. And were going to continue to confront mob violence, but the operations were discussing today are very different. They are classic crime fighting.
The presidents announcement comes amidst his campaign for re-election with polls showing him trailing Democratic candidate Joe Biden. Federal law enforcement under Trump has frequently and often misleadingly touted higher crime rates in many major cities in the U.S. that are led by Democratic mayors, in an effort to portray them as lawless war zones.
Cleveland, which has seen higher-than-average homicide rates in recent years, has interestingly not been the target of Trumps public ire like Chicago and other cities, though the Justice Department has devoted resources to combating violent and drug crime in the region. It also remains involved in a court-enforced effort to reform the Cleveland police department.
This rampage of violence shocks the conscience of our nation, and we will not stand by and watch it happen. Cant do that, Trump said Wednesday. The citizens of Chicago are citizens of America, and they have the same right as every other American to live in safety, dignity, and peace. No mother should ever have to cradle her dead child in her arms simply because politicians refuse to do what is necessary to secure their neighborhood and to secure their city.
The source familiar with Clevelands plans said the new surge will temporarily fill the number of positions called for under Operation Relentless Pursuit, the initiative Herdman and others previously announced. The latter includes the addition of more people from several agencies including the FBI, DEA, ATF and the marshals to address violent crimes in seven cities, including Cleveland. It also involves having more local police officers serve on federal task forces and offering grants for participating cities to hire additional cops.
While the goal of Operation Relentless Pursuit is to permanently place more federal law enforcement in certain areas, that was not fully completed because of the coronavirus pandemic, the source explained. Thats where Operation LeGend comes in, and the surge of additional agents will address the gaps in the short term for the positions the Justice Department has not filled, the source explained.
Still, without a formal announcement about Cleveland, some local officials appeared taken aback.
Mayor Frank Jacksons administration said in a statement that it has not been made aware of any additional federal law enforcement resources coming to the city.
The Cleveland Division of Police has in the past and will continue to partner with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to combat violent crime in our neighborhoods, the statement continues. In (December), the Division of Police announced the Relentless Pursuit initiative, which is designed to combat violent crimes in our neighborhoods with our federal, state and local partners.
Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael OMalley also said he wasnt aware of Clevelands involvement in the new federal initiative.
Cleveland Police Patrolmens Association President Jeff Follmer, who represents the rank-and-file officers, said that we werent expecting this.
We have to process the idea of federal agents being sent to Cleveland, he added.
U.S. Rep. Marcia Fudge, a Warrensville Heights Democrat, blasted the plan.
The deployment of militarized agents to Cleveland and cities across the country is unconstitutional and reminds us of the actions of dictators and despots of old, Fudge said in a statement. It disregards the right of our cities and states to govern and protect their residents.The President is not trying to protect Americans.Instead, he is attempting to intimidate and silence those who disagree with his policies. These unlawful actions must stop!
Reporters Adam Ferrise and Robert Higgs contributed to this story.
Here is the original post:
- North Korea Wants to Convince the World It Can Nuke Hawaii. Donald Trump Is Happy to Oblige. - The Intercept [Last Updated On: May 3rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 3rd, 2017]
- Does Donald Trump Have Dementia? - The Root [Last Updated On: May 3rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 3rd, 2017]
- Donald Trump's peculiar obsession with authoritarian leaders - Chicago Tribune [Last Updated On: May 3rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 3rd, 2017]
- 'South Park' Creators Skirt Donald Trump Next Season Because Monkey Running Into Wall Can't Be Made Funnier - Deadline [Last Updated On: May 3rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 3rd, 2017]
- Donald Trump Has Been Lying About The Size Of His Penthouse - Forbes [Last Updated On: May 3rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 3rd, 2017]
- This is the best news Donald Trump has had in a while - CNN [Last Updated On: May 3rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 3rd, 2017]
- AFT President: Betsy DeVos and Donald Trump Are Dismantling Public Education - TIME [Last Updated On: May 3rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 3rd, 2017]
- The Donald Trump Zone of Uncertainty shows up in the health-care debate - Washington Post [Last Updated On: May 3rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 3rd, 2017]
- Donald Trump Predicts Mideast Peace Is 'Not As Difficult As People Have Thought' - Huffington Post [Last Updated On: May 3rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 3rd, 2017]
- Make America Great Again! | Donald J Trump for President [Last Updated On: May 3rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 3rd, 2017]
- Donald Trump Rage Tweets Against Media For Taking Seriously His Tweets - Deadline [Last Updated On: June 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 6th, 2017]
- Roger Stone: I Hooked Up Nigel Farage With Donald Trump - Mother Jones [Last Updated On: June 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 6th, 2017]
- Accused leaker Reality Winner called Trump an 'orange fascist' on Twitter - CNN International [Last Updated On: June 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 6th, 2017]
- Donald Trump's Approval Rating Is Better Than Bill Clinton's at This Point in His First Term - Newsweek [Last Updated On: June 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 6th, 2017]
- London, Qatar, Donald Trump: Your Tuesday Briefing - New York Times [Last Updated On: June 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 6th, 2017]
- Donald Trump Escalates Qatar Crisis - HuffPost [Last Updated On: June 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 6th, 2017]
- How Donald Trump Shifted Kids-Cancer Charity Money Into His Business - Forbes [Last Updated On: June 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 6th, 2017]
- No, Donald Trump doesn't have 110 million people following him on social media - Washington Post [Last Updated On: June 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 6th, 2017]
- Donald Trump is the best 2020 recruiter Democrats could hope for - CNN [Last Updated On: June 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 6th, 2017]
- It's Time to Demand Donald Trump's Resignation - RollingStone.com [Last Updated On: June 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 6th, 2017]
- A brief history of Donald Trump's feud with Sadiq Khan, London's first Muslim mayor - Washington Post [Last Updated On: June 7th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 7th, 2017]
- Donald Trump has a lot of feelings about fame - CNN [Last Updated On: June 7th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 7th, 2017]
- Donald Trump Is Never to Blame - New York Times [Last Updated On: June 7th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 7th, 2017]
- Donald Trump will do whatever it takes to distract you from the Comey hearing - CNN [Last Updated On: June 7th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 7th, 2017]
- President Trump's Approval Rating Hit Another New Low - TIME [Last Updated On: June 7th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 7th, 2017]
- The Potemkin Policies of Donald Trump - The Atlantic [Last Updated On: June 7th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 7th, 2017]
- Jeff Sessions committed the one sin Donald Trump can't forgive - CNN [Last Updated On: June 7th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 7th, 2017]
- James Comey just went nuclear on Donald Trump - CNN International [Last Updated On: June 7th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 7th, 2017]
- Vladimir Putin, Hillary Clinton and the true cause of Donald Trump's legitimacy crisis his own actions - Salon [Last Updated On: June 9th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 9th, 2017]
- Donald Trump Proposes Covering Mexican Border Wall With Solar Panels - Futurism [Last Updated On: June 9th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 9th, 2017]
- Tell Your Senators: Don't Let Donald Trump Take Our Cuba Policy Backwards - The Nation. [Last Updated On: June 9th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 9th, 2017]
- Donald Trump Wrote a Cookbook - New York Times [Last Updated On: June 9th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 9th, 2017]
- Donald Trump is destroying America's standing in the world and may end up destroying the world - Salon [Last Updated On: June 9th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 9th, 2017]
- Donald Trump hasn't tweeted in a very long time - CNN [Last Updated On: June 9th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 9th, 2017]
- Experts: Trump's Comey Firing 'Possibly Lawful, But Awful' - NBCNews.com [Last Updated On: June 9th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 9th, 2017]
- Karl Rove, Erick Erickson slam Donald Trump - Salon [Last Updated On: June 9th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 9th, 2017]
- The Real Scandal Is Still Russia - Slate Magazine [Last Updated On: June 9th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 9th, 2017]
- 5 times UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn slammed Donald Trump - Politico [Last Updated On: June 9th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 9th, 2017]
- 9 questions Donald Trump needs to answer at today's news conference - CNN [Last Updated On: June 9th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 9th, 2017]
- So is Donald Trump secretly recording conversations or not? - CNN [Last Updated On: June 9th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 9th, 2017]
- Watch Donald Trump Throw Binders Full of Highway Environmental Reviews on the Floor - Slate Magazine (blog) [Last Updated On: June 10th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 10th, 2017]
- This week in Donald Trump's conflicts of interest: Kushner may have problems, but Trump's hotel raises lots of questions - Salon [Last Updated On: June 10th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 10th, 2017]
- Historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat: Donald Trump looks like Mussolini but can be overcome - Salon [Last Updated On: June 10th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 10th, 2017]
- This One Tweet May Lead to Donald Trump's Impeachment - National Review [Last Updated On: June 10th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 10th, 2017]
- Fact Check: Donald Trump's Claims About Infrastructure - New York Times [Last Updated On: June 10th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 10th, 2017]
- The Worst of Donald Trump's Toxic Agenda Is Lying in Wait A Major US Crisis Will Unleash It - The Intercept [Last Updated On: June 10th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 10th, 2017]
- Boy Scout James Comey is no match for Donald Trump - Washington Post [Last Updated On: June 10th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 10th, 2017]
- Justice Department: Trump Can Take Payments From Foreign Governments - TIME [Last Updated On: June 11th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 11th, 2017]
- Marc Kasowitz, Donald Trump's lawyer, has clients with Kremlin ties - The Denver Post [Last Updated On: June 11th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 11th, 2017]
- Yes, Donald Trump is an incompetent buffoon but he's still a major threat to democracy - Salon [Last Updated On: June 11th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 11th, 2017]
- Democrats bet on Trump in Virginia governor's race - Politico [Last Updated On: June 11th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 11th, 2017]
- Will Donald Trump's anti-Muslim words on travel ban hurt his case? - USA TODAY [Last Updated On: June 11th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 11th, 2017]
- Donald Trump's State Visit To The UK Now In Doubt - HuffPost [Last Updated On: June 11th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 11th, 2017]
- Donald Trump Jr.: There's 'no ambiguity' in my father's orders - CNN [Last Updated On: June 11th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 11th, 2017]
- Ivanka condemns Donald Trump's 'vicious critics' - BBC News [Last Updated On: June 13th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 13th, 2017]
- Donald Trump Surrogate Lays Out POTUS Case For Sacking Special Counsel Robert Mueller - Deadline [Last Updated On: June 13th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 13th, 2017]
- Russia, Theresa May, Donald Trump: Your Tuesday Briefing - New York Times [Last Updated On: June 13th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 13th, 2017]
- Donald Trump in Wonderland: Literally everything our president says and does reflects the opposite of reality - Salon [Last Updated On: June 13th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 13th, 2017]
- Donald Trump Is Turning Young Voters Off the GOPand Maybe Forever - Daily Beast [Last Updated On: June 13th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 13th, 2017]
- Trump's Own Tweets Help Kill His Government's Travel Ban, Again - Fortune [Last Updated On: June 13th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 13th, 2017]
- Donald Trump's Approval Rating Sinks Further As Disapproval Hits Record High - Newsweek [Last Updated On: June 13th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 13th, 2017]
- When Jeff Sessions met Donald Trump: The origins of an alliance now strained - Washington Post [Last Updated On: June 13th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 13th, 2017]
- Donald Trump just held the weirdest Cabinet meeting ever - CNN [Last Updated On: June 13th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 13th, 2017]
- Donald Trump to mayor of island sinking due to climate change: Don't worry about it! - Salon [Last Updated On: June 14th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 14th, 2017]
- Trump son tweet connects shooting to NYC 'Julius Caesar' play - CNN [Last Updated On: June 14th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 14th, 2017]
- Newt Gingrich, Donald Trump Jr. rush to blame Kathy Griffin and the left for baseball shooting - Salon [Last Updated On: June 14th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 14th, 2017]
- Donald Trump's Biggest Mistake Might Have Been Getting Elected - Vanity Fair [Last Updated On: June 14th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 14th, 2017]
- Congress Shooter Is Dead - TMZ.com [Last Updated On: June 14th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 14th, 2017]
- Trump faces first big domestic moment - Politico [Last Updated On: June 14th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 14th, 2017]
- Tiny mark on Melania Trump's birthday card to Donald Trump sparks wild theories - AOL [Last Updated On: June 16th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 16th, 2017]
- Donald Trump Is Now Facing Three Emoluments Lawsuits - Slate Magazine [Last Updated On: June 16th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 16th, 2017]
- Play Video - TIME [Last Updated On: June 16th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 16th, 2017]
- Donald Trump Blocked Me on Twitter for Telling Him He's Not as Cool as Witches - Newsweek [Last Updated On: June 16th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 16th, 2017]
- Senate passes Russia sanctions bill, pushing back against Trump - CNN [Last Updated On: June 16th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 16th, 2017]
- Australian leader is on the hot seat for making fun of Donald Trump - Washington Post [Last Updated On: June 16th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 16th, 2017]
- Flattery is Donald Trump's cocaine he's addicted to it - USA TODAY [Last Updated On: June 16th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 16th, 2017]
- Moving to Scuttle Obama Legacy, Donald Trump to Crack Down on Cuba - New York Times [Last Updated On: June 16th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 16th, 2017]
- Donald Trump doesn't get the special counsel investigation. And he's never going to. - CNN [Last Updated On: June 16th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 16th, 2017]
- Memo to Donald Trump: The election ended 219 days ago. You won. - CNN [Last Updated On: June 16th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 16th, 2017]
- Who in the White House Will Turn Against Donald Trump? - The New Yorker [Last Updated On: June 17th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 17th, 2017]