Photo: Alamy
Federal law enforcement officers are continuing to bring criminals to justice in the United States amid the government shutdown, despite being unpaid.
“Federal law enforcement officers continue to do heroic work—unpaid—during this Democrat Shutdown to make America safe again,” said U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi in a Thursday statement.
She said law enforcement had arrested 4,067 suspects in Washington, D.C., and seized 381 illegal weapons.
In Memphis, Tennessee, she noted another 562 arrests and 144 illegal guns seized.
“@TheJusticeDept is also working to dismantle Antifa, a domestic terrorist organization, and has surged resources to protect @ICEgov facilities in Chicago and Portland,” she stated.
Her comments come just one day after the White House held a roundtable on the threat of Antifa and domestic terrorism in the United States.
President Trump said on Wednesday that there is a “very serious left-wing terror threat in our country.”
The president vowed to crack down on agitators and thugs perpetrating violence against American citizens and law enforcement officers. “We’re going to be far more threatening to them than they ever were with us – and that includes the people that fund them,” he said.
Despite Thursday marking the ninth day of a federal government shutdown, Democrats have refused to vote for a clean continuing resolution put forth by Republicans that would fund federal operations.
U.S. servicemembers, law enforcement officers, and other key government employees will fail to receive their upcoming paychecks if Democrats do not vote for the CR, which has so far failed to pass in the Senate six times.
“When someone shows you who they are, believe them,” said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt this week.
She has warned that if the shutdown continues, thousands of federal workers could potentially be fired. Right now, “hundreds of thousands of federal workers” are furloughed.
Despite this, Democrats have refused to budge. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) told Punchbowl News that, as far as the government shutdown goes, “Every day gets better for us.”