The majority of passersby were curious about the soldiers. Others shared their views directly.
DC protests President Trump’s criminal crackdown and military deployment
Protesters in Washington, DC oppose President Donald Trump’s criminal crackdown and military deployment.
WASHINGTON – At Union Station, familiar flows of tourists and tourists fresh from trains and buses emerged from the Capitol buildings from the queued entrance block.
There was one new existence. Dozens of National Guard forces with camouflage fatigue.
Soldiers patrolled for hours outside the main station in Washington, DC on August 14 days after President Donald Trump announced a military and law enforcement clampdown on statistically declining cities “out of control” crime.
Earlier this week, Trump seized control of local law enforcement and deployed 800 national security guards from the District of Columbia in response to what he gave the framework as a city’s public safety emergency. Supporters, lawmakers, and many residents have pushed back that trait of ignoring crime data.
In other parts of the country, the president cannot deploy the military into police capabilities without the consent of the state governor. Washington is the exception. Trump has a green light to deploy his troops to assume law enforcement functions under his sole order. The Army said the military is tasked with protecting the property of the National Park Service, including the National Mall, and supporting law enforcement with administrative duties and transportation. They are not armed, but authorities told USA Today that if quotas change, they will be ordered to carry soldiers with weapons.
About a third of Washington, DC’s 2,400 National Guard has been tapped for Trump’s mission. Those who live close enough can fall asleep, while others whose private homes are far from the capital will stay at base facilities and hotels.
One soldier standing next to an idling humvee outside Union Station said he lives far away to sleep at home, but said he didn’t show how much he would unfold. Like his peers, he was not allowed to talk about the records. He told USA Today that he will return home after the assignment is over.
National Guard patrols cause insults, approval
It first appeared in the development in front of the Washington Memorial on August 12, according to photos posted by the commander and news reports. Two days later they appeared at Union Station, staying in line with heavy heat much longer, with law enforcement bevies from multiple agencies cleaning and spinning the area.
As the mornings rose and temperatures rose in the 80s, several more sage green humvees filled with soldiers rose to join the four of them already parked in the corner of the plaza outside the station. Military vehicles, known for transporting troops across desert terrain in Iraq and Afghanistan, are currently narrowing down busy traffic along with taxis and Ubers that drop commuters and tourists.
At one point, some forces rushed towards the traffic kerfuffle on the side of the square. The man who witnessed the incident said the unresponsive driver drove his car to the curb and hit a street sign. By then, the driver who scored the autograph had escaped the scene. The man grabbed some of the guards and drove them away.
Police cars have regularly cruised in the past. At another moment, a security attendant in the parking lot was injured by a passing driver. The fire truck arrived, then an ambulance arrived, then another. A group of police riding bikes rushed to the station entrance, only to find that the screams they were responding came from traffic attendants urging the car to move forward. “Yeah, that’s the security guard screams,” he said before they rushed. The drones of the siren in the distance were almost constant.
The National Guard forces checked in with the injured guards, but eventually returned to their posts.
A photograph of the army was taken as travelers waited with their vehicles and suitcases in their hands. Some posed with them for photos.
The majority of passersby were curious about the soldiers. Others shared their views directly.
“I’m embarrassed by you,” cried a woman. “I’m sorry, but I have to do this.”
“Tell me about waste of resources,” cried another.
Others shared approval – Pass Jogger gave him a thumbs up and a smile.
“I’m scared. I’m scared,” said Nick Roelofs, 67, an American foreigner living in Stockholm, standing outside the station. “I don’t want to live in a police state. I’m worried about what happens.”
“It’s a waste of time and money for people,” said Lela Leonard, a 38-year-old Pittsburgh family in the capital. “They just stand there.”
Others expressed their faith in the regime. “Maybe he’s seeing what we’re not seeing,” 25-year-old Mohammed Osman said of justification for deploying Trump’s troops. “It’s America. Nothing will happen to us.”
The heart of DC Crime Debate
Union Station, the HUB of the Century of Trains, has been the flashpoint for a fierce debate over Washington’s crime rate.
The Trump administration has argued that crimes related to homelessness and false teenagers are a citywide crisis. Critics point out that crime rates are falling compared to the end of the year.
“Greatness is the choice,” the Department of Homeland Security captioned the August 12 post, showing the official X account of 1940s Ella illustrations of trolleys and colorful cars outside a neat, unpersonled station.
Union Station reached its peak in the 1940s, when train travel was booming. According to its website, its self-proclaimed “Low Point appeared in 1981.
In recent years, the station has been a site of overdose and attacks, losing more than half of its stores within 20 years, according to a 2022 Washington Post report. A man was fatally shot at a station in February. Six teenage girls were arrested in connection with violent attacks by women outside the station the same month.
With the National Guard standing nearby on August 14, some travelers said they were more concerned about military presence than what it was intended to prevent.
“There are no crimes that should require military bases in Washington, D.C.,” Osman said.
