Trump sends National Guard

Visitors who came to Washington, D.C. last week — from one collection of Smithsonian to another, eating ice cream on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial — with history they certainly didn’t expect: history of President Trump taking over the region. At a press conference on Monday, Trump vowed to bring orders to what he said was “totally lawless” and “bloody, bedridden and dirty.” Within a few days, police forces in Washington, D.C. were mobilized by the federal government, the National Guard, hundreds of troops appeared, and many troops were in the boring Hummer.

Few tourists and few locals are able to realize the nightmare place in Trump’s description. DC, like nearly every American city, has crime and homelessness. In 2023, it met outstanding spikes in carjacking. But its problems are long-term, not keen. According to the Metropolitan Police Department, violent crime rates have dropped by 26% since the same period last year.

In any case, the display of Trump’s federal muscles is not focused on the most common communities in crime, but is an iconic tourist attraction near the White House. Perhaps he envisions a sequel to his military parade in June, with Fox-New Visuals: National health workers gather around the Washington Monument, with DEA agents standing outside a high-end bakery in Georgetown. On Fourteenth Street, a lively nightlife corridor with a diverse population and men dressed ice Homeland Security vest operates a checkpoint, with some agents (a few covering their faces), pulling the driver and asking them. (According to Washington postalat least two were detained. “Oh, I feel so much safer,” a young woman laughed. “Fascist, go home!” a cyclist shouted.

Trump’s performance of force is an imposition on a citizen who has become aware of his democratic autonomy. As advocates of the DC country point out, the area has about 700,000 residents (more than Wyoming or Vermont) but does not have the right to elect representatives who can vote in Congress legislation. Until the Domestic Rule Act of 1973 gave the city limited autonomy, it did not have its own mayor or city council. Even now, Congress can also ratify the law and public comments approved by the Council. This has happened a lot over the years, usually to eliminate gradual legislation. In the 1980s and 1990s, Congress rejected a law to legalize homosexual sexuality and prevented public funds from being used for abortion services. In June, the House voted to repeal the law that allowed non-citizens to vote in local elections and prohibited police unions from negotiating disciplinary measures against officials. Two Republican members of Congress recently introduced a bill that would completely revoke their own rule in order to allow Congress to “manage the capital of the country.”

An effective plan to improve DC citizens’ lives will require detailed policies and extended investments in time and funds, which are various things that Trump’s reinstallation of DC reveals. “I will make our capital safer and more beautiful than ever,” Trump wrote. “Homeless people must move out immediately. We will provide you with a place to stay, but stay away from the capital.” Advocates who advocate homelessness said it is not clear where people will be sent. The city does not have enough beds in the local shelter.

As the week progressed, Attorney General Pam Bondi tried to usurp Police Chief Pamela Smith by appointing the DEA chief as “Emergency Police Chief.” The region pushed backwards, suing the government and arguing that its actions were “unnecessary and illegal”. Americans have long been wary of using the military in local law enforcement, and there is good reason. Soldiers usually don’t live where they are sent; they don’t know the community and don’t respond very much to them. They are also not usually trained or authorized to arrest them in law enforcement, so using them to combat crime means relying heavily on intimidation forces. Military patrols on city streets make the exercise of freedom of speech and freedom of speech very chilling.

A law of 1878 known as the POSSE COMITATUS Act usually uses the military for this purpose. (Trump is recently in the fight – National Guard deploymentice In court, protests in Los Angeles were challenged. ) But the strange status of the region makes it easy to use as a laboratory. In Washington, D.C., the president was allowed to send the National Guard without the need for a formal federal government. The Domestic Rule Act authorized him to take over Metropolitan Police in an “emergency situation”. While these presidential powers do not apply elsewhere, Georgetown University law professor Stephen Vladeck is concerned that Trump will be “insensitive” to the use of the National Guard recently.

In a press conference where Trump announced his DC plan, he suggested other cities could be next. “Look at Chicago, how bad it is. You look at Los Angeles, how bad it is.” “New York has problems.” (Baltimore and Oakland, he is seen as “too far away.” There are some ways around the POSSE COMITATUS bill, and Trump seems likely to test it. At a rally in Los Angeles, Gov. Gavin Newsom spoke last week, a Border Patrol unit, some with rifles, showed up uninvited guests. Washington postal The government is considering establishing a “fast harassment response force for domestic civil servants,” a number of hundreds of National Guard units that can be deployed to cities to quell protests, the report said.

At the checkpoint on Fourth Street last week, Washington, D.C. police were forced to answer residents at least when asked what happened. (“Traffic Safety Inspection,” one person convincingly said.) Federal agent just turned around. Trump once said at a press conference that his law enforcement can do “everything they want.” This is not true, but it is more real than before. ♦