Statement: An Attack on D.C. is an Attack on Us All

We are once again witnessing an alarming escalation of federal power – this time it’s happening in our nation’s capital. The Trump administration has deployed 800 National Guard troops, 500 federal law enforcement agents, and armored vehicles into the streets of D.C., seizing control of the city’s police force under the pretense of “out-of-control” crime. Yet another example of this administration’s targeting of communities along racialized lines as D.C. is home to more than 170 ethnicities and nationalities. This act is dangerous and a direct attack on Home Rule – the hard-won right of D.C. residents to govern themselves – and part of a long pattern of racist power grabs against one of the most diverse cities in the U.S.

Let’s be clear: this is not about public safety. This is about political theater, authoritarian overreach, and silencing dissent. Official crime data from the Metropolitan Police Department and the FBI show that violent crime in D.C. has dropped to its lowest level in 30 years, down 26% compared to the same time last year. This includes a 32% decrease in homicides, 39% fewer robberies, and a 53% reduction in armed carjackings. These statistics make clear that the Trump administration has fabricated a crisis to justify the militarization of our communities..

From Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., the pattern is clear: deploying military and federal forces into American cities is a direct attack on the right to protest, local autonomy, and the will of the people. It is also a dangerous precedent for the use of federal troops within U.S. borders and against civilians, especially in moments of political dissent.

“The Administration's authoritarian imposition of federal and military personnel into the District's streets coupled with the federalization of the police department is an effort to impose a prototype police state in Washington, D.C. This is a working model to normalize the militarization of America's cities, further routinize police violence, racist policing and profiling with a green light from the White House, and array forces to suppress and punish free speech and dissent. But the people of Washington, D.C. and the U.S. will not give up their constitutional rights or be willing subjects to a police state.” 

- Mara Verheyden-Hilyard Executive Director and Constitutional Rights Lawyer, Partnership for Civil Justice Fund

The Protect the Protest coalition condemns this blatant abuse of power and stands in full solidarity with the people of Washington, D.C., who are defending their autonomy and democratic rights. Military presence in the capital, including barricades, armored vehicles, and federal agents seizing and questioning its residents, is not a symbol of public safety, but of government oppression. It is a warning to every American that our constitutional rights are being threatened in real time.

Protest is not a crime. Militarization does not equal safety. The Protect the Protest coalition supports the demands of D.C. residents that federal troops leave the city, restore control to its local leadership, and end the use of military force against U.S. cities. We call on all people across political lines, ideologies, religions, and identities to resist this authoritarian push. An attack on any one of us is an attack on all of us. The time to speak out is now, before these abuses become permanent fixtures of our political landscape.