The left sees President Donald Trump's attempted takeover of Washington law enforcement as part of a multifront march to autocracy — “vindictive authoritarian rule,” as one activist put it — and as an extraordinary thing to do in rather ordinary times on the streets of the capital.

The suit, filed in federal court, is the biggest pushback from city officials since President Donald Trump invoked a provision of the Home Rule Act — the 1970s law that allows for limited self-governance by D.C.’s government — which allows the president to request MPD’s services to address “special conditions of an emergency nature.”