Operation Legend

[4][5] According to the White House, Operation Legend was implemented after President Trump began deploying federal law enforcement agents to fight violent crime in the wake of the George Floyd protests.[4] Five days after Mayor Lucas's letter was sent, the United States Department of Justice announced the Operation Legend initiative on July 8, 2020, to bring federal law enforcement agents to Kansas City to assist local authorities with combatting crime.[11][12][13] Politico relayed that the mayors of Baltimore, Chicago, and Philadelphia had not been contacted by the DHS, who "struggled to lower the temperature of protests" in Oregon where multiple officials said the influx of federal officers had heightened tensions.[13] According to Reuters, a Department of Justice official said the operation was not related to the deployment of federal agents to ongoing protests in Portland, Oregon.[5] Acting DHS Secretary Wolf, reported the Associated Press, "drew a distinction between the mission in Portland—to protect federal property—and the surges in Kansas City, Chicago and Albuquerque to help stop violence."[14] Later the same day, the White House released an event summary stating that the program would expand to Cleveland, Detroit, and Milwaukee, over the next three weeks.[23] As of August 19, 2020, there have been 217 people who have been charged with a federal crime, and more than 1,000 arrests have been made in major metropolitan cities since the Department of Justice launched Operation Legend.[24] On September 3, 2020, the Department of Justice announced that it has so far arrested more than 2,000 people, including 147 homicide suspects, as part of the sprawling, nationwide initiative to stem the tide of violent crime.[27] On September 3, 2020, the Department of Justice released a reported the arrests of 35 people, largely on gun and drug related offenses, between July 22 and August 31.As part of Operation Legend, an individual from Columbus, Indiana was sentenced to 41 months in prison for having sold 300 guns illegally, 21 which ended up at crime scenes in Indianapolis.[36] On August 27, 2020, three men were charged in federal court as part of Operation Legend after an armed carjacking led to a chase, and a crash that killed another driver.[37] The US Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, Tim Garrison, announced on Monday August 31, 2020, that authorities have made 355 arrests in Kansas City under the purview of Operation LeGend.The program was described as a success by federal agents involved, with the FBI officially stating: Operation Legend was a coordinated effort with our local law enforcement and prosecutorial partners to aggressively investigate our most violent crimes.