The US Department of Justice on Monday designated three cities as “anarchist jurisdictions”, where it says elected officials have allowed property destruction and violence during protests over racism and police brutality.
The move is an explicitly political gambit, part of the Trump administration’s “law and order” re-election push. In seeking to withdraw federal funding from the three cities, the DoJ is likely to be stymied in the courts.
Earlier in September, Donald Trump released a memo asking the DoJ to identify cities supposedly “permitting anarchy, violence, and destruction”, and to publish names on its website within two weeks.
The DoJ duly did so, outlining its criteria: forbidding police from intervening “to restore order”; defunding police; and withdrawing “law enforcement protection” or refusing federal law enforcement intervention.
In a press release, the department said New York cut $1bn from its police budget, and Portland and Seattle allowed…
