DC Mayor Bowser calls on Trump to remove federal and military police from the city amid protests by George Floyd

Washington, D.C., officials tightened their opposition to the expansion of federal law enforcement and the military presence in the city on Friday, demanding that President Donald Trump withdraw forces from the city.

Citing confusion over lines of authority and a dramatic decrease in violence in recent protests sparked by the death of George Floyd, Mayor Muriel Bowser said the city had sufficient resources to ensure public safety.

"We are well equipped to handle major protests and First Amendment activities," Bowser said in a letter to Trump dated Thursday, adding that the massive deployment of federal law enforcement officers and heavy equipment was serving to "inflame" the protests. instead of securing them.

"This multiplicity of forces can create dangerous confusion," said Bowser.

For days, the expanded military presence, with hundreds of additional troops waiting at posts outside the city, has not only weakened tensions between municipal and federal authorities, but has also exposed dissent within the Trump administration, where the The president has threatened to deploy active duty troops to "dominate" the streets where some protests had turned violent.

As of this week, officials in 31 states had activated 30,000 National Guard members to assist state and local law enforcement forces in support of civil unrest operations across the country after Floyd's death in Minneapolis at the hands of local police officers. Hundreds of people arrived in the district last week. In addition to the 39,000 deployed to aid the COVID-19 pandemic, the deployments have surpassed the guard's response to Hurricane Katrina.

A police box that includes the Park Police, the Metro Police Department and the DC National Guard confronted with protesters across the barriers in Lafayette Square, just outside the White House in Washington, DC on 1 June 2020.

To further cloud the chain of command in the capital, the Trump administration weighed a federal inauguration of the DC Metropolitan Police Department, which has long secured demonstrations, inaugurations and other special events across the city.

In his letter, Bowser also announced the end of a state of emergency in the city, noting that protests in recent nights have remained largely peaceful. She said police did not report arrests in the city last night.

Tensions between the city and the federal government have been building up throughout the week, as the Trump administration requested the assistance of the National Guard from several governors.

On Thursday, Bowser promised to fight the growing federal presence, warning authorities in simple terms to back off.

"Know this, at no time is the mayor going to support the federal government that runs MPD," Bowser told reporters.

At the time, he also said that municipal legal advisers were exploring the federal government's authority to request National Guard help for the district, without seeking approval from the city.

Meanwhile, Trump has turned to Attorney General William Barr to coordinate a massive response from federal law enforcement that has attracted officers and agents from the FBI, the Bureau of Firearms and Alcohol and Tobacco Explosives, the Control Administration of Drugs, the US Marshals Service. The US, the Federal Bureau of Prisons and the immigration police units of the Department of Homeland Security.

Some of the officers, Bowser and others have said, have been deployed in uniforms that do not identify the agency's affiliation.

"Our police and incident command has clear channels of communication and roles, and it is important to note that these additional unidentified units are operating outside established chains of command," Bowser said in the letter to Trump, noting the recent deployment. of an army the helicopter confronted the protesters with "war" tactics with low-flying maneuvers to "scare" the protesters.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper said authorities were investigating the deployment of the helicopter.

In addition to Bowser's letter, Washington Attorney General Karl Racine sent inquiries to state officials requesting information about the deployment of guards in the district. New Jersey, Maryland, Florida, Missouri, Indiana, South Carolina, Tennessee and Utah have reportedly sent National Guard troops to the district. Another query was sent to Trump administration officials, including Barr and Esper, asking them to describe the specific missions of federal troops and officials out of state.

"The district government has received very little information on the legal basis for the presence of these entities," wrote Racine.

Bowser has previously said he does not object to the presence of out-of-state law enforcement officials, provided they remain within federal limits and do not cross the streets of the district.

The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.