Friend —

Over the last 10 months, DC communities have witnessed an increasingly distressing pattern emerge among our local law enforcement.

As Trump's agents make violent, racially motivated, and unconstitutional arrests of our loved ones and neighbors, we too often see Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officers doing nothing to stop them or, in many cases, actively assisting them.

MPD should not be assisting federal agents with their attacks on DC residents. This pattern is a dangerous dynamic that deserves urgent attention from our elected leaders — and it is time for us to demand that. Tell Councilmember Brooke Pinto to hold a hearing on MPD’s cooperation with federal forces.

DC Council's Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety is responsible for oversight of MPD. Councilmember Pinto is Chair of the Committee, but right now is not doing oversight of this problematic behavior.

Just this week news broke that MPD tried to cover up a federal agent’s shooting into the car of an unarmed Black man on October 17. MPD has conducted illegal stops and searches — then turns people over to ICE. MPD is likely sharing cultural information with federal forces about where to find people to target. These forces share radio frequencies, travel together, respond to 911 calls together, and more.

DC deserves transparency and accountability about how local police are cooperating with federal forces. It will take a public hearing to make that happen. Send a letter to Councilmember Pinto today telling her to convene a hearing immediately.

Sincerely,
DC JWJ