As President Donald Trump prepares to send federal officers to cities across the country to help curb a recent surge in violence, he is facing opposition from local leaders who do not want the assistance of the federal government. Trump announced that officers will be heading to Chicago and Albuquerque and suggested that agents could be deployed to other cities, which are all run by Democrats.
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said his city has not requested any help from the Trump administration and warned that any federal officer who breaks the law will face charges.
"My dad volunteered and served in World War II to fight fascism, like most of my uncles, so we would not have an American president brutalizing and kidnapping Americans for exercising their constitutional rights and trying to make America a better place, which is what patriots do," Krasner in a statement. "Anyone, including federal law enforcement, who unlawfully assaults and kidnaps people, will face criminal charges from my office."
Krasner explained that he has no issue working with federal agencies to help solve crimes, but does not want to see what is going on in Portland, Oregon, happen in Philadelphia.
"It is not OK to fracture skulls with what they like to call non-lethal rubber bullets or tear gas canisters. It is not OK when there is no probable cause to jump out of a rental van and just requisition people off the street," he said in an interview with Bloomberg. "That looks like a dictatorship. That looks like a kidnapping. That looks like a crime. So there's nothing unusual about federal law enforcement doing law enforcement work, where it may follow the law and where they have jurisdiction to do so."
Krasner said that while his office and the Philadelphia police have jurisdiction to arrest and charge anybody, including federal officers, accused of committing a crime, he understands that the cases could get thrown out if they are heard in federal court.
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