The federal authorities were attempting to clear homeless encampments in northwestern Washington on Thursday night as part of President Donald Trump’s sprawling takeover of the city’s law enforcement apparatus, after city officials and advocates had spent much of the day urging unhoused people to go to shelters or risk arrest.

A federal operation that had been expected to start at 6.30pm seemed to get underway only after dark. At around 9pm, federal agents from the FBI and the US Secret Service arrived at Washington Circle in the Foggy Bottom area to remove a few tents where homeless people had long stayed, according to Wes Heppler of the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless. They retreated after a woman presented a city notice saying she had until Monday to leave.

“We were told that there would be a list of sites that would receive closure activity from the National Park Service and other law enforcement officials, and we would support that effort by providing a connection to homeless services for those who are adversely impacted,” Wayne Turnage, Washington’s deputy mayor for health and human services, told reporters.

New York Times News Service