President Donald Trump said Monday he is placing Washington, DC’s, police department “under direct federal control” and deploying National Guard troops to the nation’s capital, citing a public safety emergency after an assault on a former government worker.

Trump invoked Section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act in an executive order to declare a “crime emergency” so his administration could take over the city’s police force. He signed a directive for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to activate the National Guard.

Mayor Muriel Bowser says she would work with the federal government, while rejecting the U.S. President’s claim of widespread crime