National Guard troops put boots on the ground in the nation’s capital Tuesday as the White House shared the first batch of federal arrests and warned the city’s homeless that they could face jail time amid President Trump’s takeover of the District’s policing.

White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said nearly 850 federal agents began patrolling the city Monday evening and took 23 people into custody on homicide, gun, drug, drunken-driving and fare evasion charges.

She said the U.S. Park Police cleared 70 homeless camps. The vagrants were given the option of seeking treatment or finding a shelter bed.

She said they were told that if they refused, they could be arrested or fined for living on sidewalks, in underpasses and in grassy patches throughout the District.

More than 800 soldiers from the D.C. National Guard arrived Tuesday morning to assist with the Trump administration’s goal of taming violent crime and general disorder in the capital city.

“These are preexisting laws that are already on the books. They have not been enforced, which is part of the reason for this nationalizing, or the federalizing of the National Guard to bring in this assistance for law enforcement,” Ms. Leavitt said.

“While we are targeting criminals and trying to remove criminals off of the streets, we also want to make D.C. safe and beautiful,” she said.

The Washington Times contacted the D.C. National Guard about where the troops were sent.

Attorney General Pam Bondi, the point person overseeing the emergency declaration, said she had met with D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser to discuss the 30-day timeline.

“We agreed that there is nothing more important than keeping residents and tourists in Washington, D.C. safe from deadly crime,” Ms. Bondi wrote on X.

Just hours after Mr. Trump announced his emergency declaration, the District recorded its 100th homicide of the year.

The Metropolitan Police Department said the deadly shooting erupted on the 1200 block of 12th Street Northwest just before 7 p.m.

Arriving officers found a wounded man, later identified as 33-year-old Tymark Wells, suffering multiple bullet wounds.

He was rushed to a hospital, but police said Mr. Wells died from his injuries around 10:50 p.m.

Police data shows the number of homicides in the District is down 11% year over year.

“Last night, DC suffered the grave milestone of its 100th homicide for 2025,” the D.C. Police Union, which supports the president’s intervention into local public safety matters, said in a statement. “Let’s hope this federal intervention leads to real change to the laws in DC that allow this to happen year after year.”

A federal employee was attacked earlier this month in the same neighborhood as the fatal shooting. The incident helped motivate Mr. Trump to exert authority over the District’s public safety infrastructure.

Police said Edward Coristine was walking to his car with a woman on 14th Street Northwest when a group of teens remarked about stealing the vehicle.

Authorities said Mr. Coristine pushed his date into the car for her safety and turned to confront the group, who then jumped him.

News of the Aug. 3 attack on the former staffer at the Department of Government Efficiency, better known because of his online moniker “Big Balls,” got the attention of Mr. Trump, who blasted out social media posts deriding the state of public safety in the District.

About a week later, the president announced his full-scale takeover of the District to crack down on crime.

“Our capital city has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth, drugged-out maniacs and homeless people, and we’re not going to let it happen anymore,” Mr. Trump said Monday from the White House.

Federal authorities have been spotted in popular nightlife spots, such as the U Street corridor in Northwest, as well as in the neighborhoods east of the Anacostia River, an area that has long struggled with violent crime and disorder.

Ms. Bowser, a Democrat, called the president’s move “unsettling and unprecedented” but said she would follow the law and work with the administration during the emergency period.

Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela A. Smith said she has coordinated with U.S. Marshals, who are overseeing the federal deployment, to suggest where agents are most needed.

The D.C. Council, which is almost entirely made up of Democrats, shot back at Mr. Trump’s declaration by saying it was a “manufactured intrusion” and that violent crime is at a 30-year low.

D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb, whose office is largely responsible for prosecuting juvenile crimes in the city, called the federal takeover “unlawful” and unnecessary because of a sizable drop in violent crime.

“We are considering all of our options and will do what is necessary to protect the rights and safety of District residents,” Mr. Schwalb posted on X.

Police statistics show that crime has fallen precipitously in the District in the two years since a generational spike in killings, muggings and carjackings.

Mr. Trump called those numbers cooked and unreliable.

He specifically mentioned a high-ranking member of the Metropolitan Police Department who was under investigation on suspicion of fiddling with crime data to disguise the city’s level of violent incidents.

The White House said the District has the fourth-highest homicide rate in the nation, higher than New York City, Chicago and Atlanta.

The Trump administration said the rate of nonviolent vehicle theft in the District is more than three times the national average and carjackings rose 547% from 2018 to 2023.

Outside of violent crime, Mr. Trump aims to rein in the mobs of youths who run amok in Navy Yard and the ATV drivers who swarm city streets.

• Jeff Mordock contributed to this report.

• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.