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Trump’s Secret Weapon in the DC Police

Police Union boss Gregg Pemberton, lead detective in troubling 2017 protest prosecutions, has long been a Trump partisan

Jeff Stein's avatar
Jeff Stein
Aug 15, 2025
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Nobody knows how the struggle between the White House and D.C. authorities over policing in the capital is going to turn out, but one thing is for sure: Donald Trump has a friend in the D.C. Police Union.

This week longtime union head Gregg Pemberton welcomed Trump’s deployment of federal police agents and the National Guard troops onto the city’s streets. 

“We stand with the President in recognizing that Washington, D.C., cannot continue on this trajectory,” Pemberton said. “Crime is out of control, and our officers are stretched beyond their limits.” 

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