U.S. Marshals Service Director Gady Serralta on Wednesday said President Trump’s D.C. takeover is reducing rampant crime that residents have been forced to experience for more than four decades.
“These are folks that have been living this for 40 years, 40 years of having to live in fear,” Serralta said during a Wednesday evening appearance on NewsNation’s “Cuomo.”
“And this is the capital of the United States. We should never accept that the capital of the United States is a location where you can get robbed, mugged, raped. You know, that’s just not acceptable,” he added, noting the goal is to “stamp out crime completely.”
National Guard members and local police have announced more than 500 arrests and seized 75 firearms in an effort to keep citizens safe.
“There’s no way to quantify how many lives we’ve saved by taking 75 firearms from bad guys, folks that have no reason to have a gun,” Serralta said.
He also noted five murderers have been taken off the street.
Others have been subject to detainment by federal immigration forces leading sting operations in and around the nation’s capital.
However, local leaders have rebuked law enforcement officers’ show of force recorded on camera and spread in viral posts.
D.C. Council member Brianne Nadeau said federal agents have “co-opted” routine traffic stops, converting them into an opportunity for interrogation.
Nadeau said these are “agents who are not trained in D.C. law. Agents who do not know our community. Agents who were not seeking to address traffic safety but rather were interrogating drivers on their immigration status,” she said in a statement after a viral incident last week.
“This is federal overreach and it is not making D.C. safer. This is not about public safety, it’s about power. It’s about instilling fear in cities. And we won’t stand for it,” she added.
Despite criticism, Serralta said federal forces would extend operations with the help of President Trump, who is expected to join a local patrol beat on Thursday night.
“The law enforcement cadre we have here is committed to making D.C. safe again. … This city needs help,” Serralta said, while acknowledging almost half of the arrests have been tied to immigration.
“President Trump sees that and he acted on it and I am honored that he selected the U.S. Marshals Service to lead this effort with 20 other law enforcement agencies who are working together and networking and doing some really good work. I think the city is going to be better for it and I think the citizens of D.C. are going to be very happy going forward.”
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