ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
The attorney general for the District of Columbia is suing the Justice Department, accusing the federal government of attempting a hostile takeover of the city's police force. This escalates a confrontation that's already put people living here on edge. NPR's Carrie Johnson is covering this, and she's here in the studio. Hey, Carrie.
CARRIE JOHNSON, BYLINE: Hey, Ari.
SHAPIRO: What are the specifics of this lawsuit from D.C.'s top lawyer?
JOHNSON: The D.C. Attorney General wants to block the federal move against the city police, which he calls a hostile takeover. He says, federal power over D.C. is not absolute. The federal role here is supposed to be temporary and for emergencies. And even then, the D.C. mayor and police chief have operational control over the police force. But Trump's executive order this week essentially took over the police department, and last night, the U.S. Attorney General put a federal official in charge. D.C.'s argument is, this infringes on the city's right to govern itself, and it puts the safety of D.C. residents and visitors at risk because the police don't know who's in charge.
SHAPIRO: How is the Justice Department responding?
JOHNSON: Justice Department leaders say the White House is responding to a big crime problem here in D.C. Last night on Fox News, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi explained why the federal government's getting so involved.
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PAM BONDI: D.C. will not remain a sanctuary city actively shielding criminal aliens - will not happen. Under Donald Trump's directive, D.C. will become safe again, and it will become clean again.
JOHNSON: Bondi says the feds have been working with D.C. police for the last few nights, arresting around 150 people and seizing firearms, too.
SHAPIRO: D.C. has asked a judge for a temporary restraining order. So what has the judge said?
JOHNSON: Judge Ana Reyes, a Biden appointee, is overseeing this case. She brought both sides into the federal courthouse this afternoon for a hearing. She says she wants them to come to some kind of practical solution because there are police who need to know who's the boss and what they're supposed to be doing. The judge suggests the White House has a lot of power here to ask D.C. to provide police services but that the executive order as it's written may go too far and that the current head of the Drug Enforcement Administration cannot basically take over the D.C. Police Department. The judge pointed out the executive order didn't even spell that man's name correctly.
SHAPIRO: This is playing out all over the city, but there's one episode in particular that's gotten a lot of attention, involving a man who threw a sandwich at law enforcement. Who is he, and what's happened to him?
JOHNSON: His name is Sean Dunn. He was carrying a footlong sub on 14th Street Northwest on Sunday night when he confronted law enforcement on a busy corner there. He yelled at the law enforcement, threw his sandwich at one of them and then ran away. The Justice Department has literally made a federal case out of this, and the White House posted a video of armed officers arresting him at his home. Here's the U.S. attorney in D.C., Jeanine Pirro.
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JEANINE PIRRO: He thought it was funny. Well, he doesn't think it's funny today 'cause we charged him with a felony, assault on a police officer. And we're going to back the police to the hilt. So there, stick your subway sandwich somewhere else.
JOHNSON: Now, his lawyer says he served in the Air Force. He also worked at the Justice Department as a trial attorney, but he's now been fired. He faces a single charge of assaulting or resisting a federal officer, but a grand jury here would still need to indict him on that charge. Until then, DOJ asked he face some restrictions. Instead, a judge released him on his own recognizance. He's due back in court in September.
SHAPIRO: That is NPR's Carrie Johnson. Thanks, Carrie.
JOHNSON: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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