On Aug. 11, President Donald Trump declared a public safety emergency in Washington, D.C., pledging to “rescue our nation’s capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam, and squalor.”
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) officers, the investigative arm of the
U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and U.S. Park Police officers detain a person on the National Mall in Washington on Aug. 13, 2025. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
