D.C. Memo: NAB, CTIA Wrote D.C. Mayor in 2024 About ‘Horrifying’ Violence. Trump Just Replied
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D.C. Crime: The last time D.C. crime slammed hard into the local communications sector was in 1995 when someone stole FCC Chairman Reed Hundt’s car from the agency’s underground parking garage. Luckily, carjacking wasn’t really a thing then, but times have changed. In February 2024, the National Association of Broadcasters and CTIA – The Wireless Association – co-signed a letter to D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) and the City Council demanding “immediate action to target the small group of organized and repeat criminals responsible for most of these violent offenses” – which the letter also called “horrifying acts of violence.” The two trade groups received a reply yesterday – from President Trump. At a boisterous White House press conference jammed with reporters, Trump announced at least two moves to take back the streets of D.C. In one Executive Order, Trump put Attorney General Pam Bondi in charge of the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, a 3,400-person sworn force taken from Bowser’s control. In a second EO, Trump ordered Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to mobilize 800 National Guardsmen to help local officials eradicate street crime and eliminate homeless encampments in parks and underpasses. “I'm announcing a[n] historic action to rescue our nation's capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor and worse. This is Liberation Day in D.C., and we're going to take our capital back,” Trump announced, comparing the effort to his shutdown of the southern border. Trump, who said crime would be snuffed out quickly, took several questions before yielding the mic to Bondi and others flanking the podium. "Let me be crystal clear. Crime in D.C. is ending and ending today. We are going to use every power we have to fight criminals here," Bondi said. The White House described the crackdown as a whole of government approach. An FCC spokesman did not respond to an email seeking comment about possible agency involvement. As Democratic FCC Chair, Biden appointee Jessica Rosenworcel refused a request from Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr (R) for authority to jam contraband cell phones in state prisons used by inmates to plot murders and other crimes occurring on the outside. (More after paywall.)
