Judge Warns Of 'Lawlessness' In Trump's DC Policing Takeover

Source: Huff Post

Aug 25, 2025, 03:24 PM EDT


WASHINGTON — A search so blatantly illegal that a “high school student” would know it violated the Constitution.

That’s how a federal magistrate judge described the search of a Washington, D.C., man who was charged with unlawful possession of a firearm last week during President Donald Trump’s takeover of the city’s police force. The man, Torez Riley, who is Black, was headed into a Trader Joe’s grocery store when local cops stopped him to look through his bag, backed by a group of federal law enforcement agents.

The judge, Zia M. Faruqui, said from the bench in D.C. federal court Monday that the police had no reason to stop Riley — except for the color of his skin. Faruqui said he was dismissing the case, calling it “absolutely maddening,” and had some savage words for the way Trump has taken over local law enforcement in the nation’s capital.

“The Sixth Amendment doesn’t get thrown out the window because the government has decided to make a show of arresting people,” said Faruqui, referring to the amendment that outlines basic rights in criminal proceedings.

Read more: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/judge-sounds-alarm-trump-dc-takeover_n_68aca65ae4b01646d84f81e1?b3f