Kansas City, Mo. Mayor: Trump’s D.C. Takeover ‘Is a Political Stunt’ That’s Not Helpful

EXCERPT:

LUCAS: “I don't think mayors have ever said we'll refuse federal help. Indeed, we've worked with the ATF, the FBI, on investigations for years. Usually, you need folks to help you get guns off the streets, to do investigations on crime guns so you can actually get the evidence to convict people. That is collaboration. Bringing National Guard forces or making FBI agents come out of their usual investigative detail and walk around parks in your community is actually not a solution for anyone. And there's almost no police chief in the country who's not being partisan in the situation, who just says that they want to have all control taken over by someone else. And so I think what most reasonable people would say is there are certainly situations where help could be a great thing for America's cities. But threats of takeovers, just sending hundreds of forces, troops in some ways, into America's cities is not something that's making anyone safer, particularly if you think about what a lot of our urban violence is -- retaliatory violence, gun-related violence, those sorts of things. And so this is not helpful. And what they're doing now, I think it is a political stunt. And that's what you'll continue to see as he looks to other cities.”