Some DC residents are upset with President Trump’s plan to deploy National Guard and federate city police. Others say it is necessary to control crime, homelessness.
President Trump will deploy DC police to federal government to federal government
President Donald Trump has announced he is controlling the Washington, DC police and deploying the National Guard.
Katherine Ernst was taking an evening walk around the National Mall on Sunday, August 10th.
Ernst, who has worked in Washington, DC for nearly a decade, said it was unsettling to see many federal law enforcement officials milling, but she was even more distraught to find out why.
Trump later announced that he would step up crackdowns and deploy an 800-person National Guard force in the city and take control of police. The move has angered some of the people who live and work in the district, but a series of interviews from USA Today, which were welcomed by others, suggests.
“I saw a warning about the National Guard and I said, ‘It’s too far, I don’t like it,'” Ernst said.
Trump has called Washington, DC dangerous and violent that it refers to recent crimes, such as the assault on former Government Efficiency staff during an August 3rd carjacking attempt. Meanwhile, some of the city’s residents have expressed similar concerns about the crime.
Shelley Moskowitz, who has been living in DC since 1987, said in a protest of Trump’s actions. “We don’t need the outside troops to enter. We are a very wonderful dandy city.”
DC residents over Trump crackdowns are “angry”
Outside the White House, Donna Powell was visibly annoyed after being asked by the Secret Service temporarily during the August Heat. Powell said police have been asking more questions to demonstrators in recent weeks and feared that the conflict could explode as Trump mobilized the National Guard.
During a press conference on August 11, Trump issued harsh warnings to city protesters, declaring a public safety emergency in D.C., saying “they won’t fight back for a long time.”
Powell disagreed. “He’s trying to get people mad and try to incite something to happen so that he can justify bringing in the National Guard,” she said.
Powell also expressed concern about Trump’s threat to replicate his approach to DC in other cities such as New York, Baltimore and Chicago. She said they were “not working” in Los Angeles, where protesters clashed with police after Trump deployed the National Guard in June.
“I think this country needs to wake up to what’s going on throughout the country,” she said.
When asked how she felt about the deployment of the National Guard Forces, Diane Gronnewald had one response: angry.
“There’s no reason for the National Guard to come here,” said Gronnewold, who attended the demonstration with Powell. “Crime rates are falling in DC. There’s no problem.”
Gronewald, who lives just outside the city of Arlington, Virginia, said Mayor Muriel Bowser hasn’t done enough to combat Trump’s threat. When he appeared on MSNBC’s “The Weekend” on August 10, Bowser refuted Trump’s claims about the rise in crime in the city and raised concerns about the deployment of the National Guard, but said, “it’s the president’s call.”
“She’s in a horrifying position,” Gronnewold said. “But I think people in DC want her to do more and they’re willing to suffer more if she leads.”
Some DC residents welcome federal government surveillance
Despite the decline in violent crime, some residents welcomed the idea of an increase in police presence.
The city is already home to many overlapping law enforcement agencies, and local police should be able to work well with the National Guard, said Kevin Schilling, who was sitting on a bench outside the White House wearing a white Trump hat shortly after the president announced. Schilling, who lives in DC, said he views crime and homelessness as a major problem in the city.
“I think it’s difficult to deal with,” Schilling said.
After being separated from the homeless shelter, Sarah Kimble, who lives in the city’s northwest quadrant park, said she frequently fears safety in other parts of the city, citing recent explosions of gun violence, such as the shooting of two Israeli embassy staff outside the museum.
“How many children were injured? I mean, it’s crazy,” she said. “So, yeah, I’m happy. At least we need to oversee something until they get it.”
Kimble is still trying to secure housing for her, but she also said she is not blaming the president for wanting to remove the homeless camp. Trump said on social media that homeless people in DC “have to leave soon,” but he didn’t elaborate on how or where he would go.
“It’s ugly, yes, I can get it,” Kimble said. “I mean, even if I’m there, that doesn’t mean I don’t like it and want to stay there.”
contribution: Sudiksha KochMe, Joey Garrison
