WASHINGTON: Several thousand Washington D.C. residents on Saturday marched to demand US President Donald Trump end the deployment of National Guard troops patrolling the capital city’s streets.
Protesters at the “We Are All D.C.” march, who included undocumented immigrants and supporters of Palestine, chanted slogans denouncing Trump and carried posters, some which read “Trump must go now,” “Free DC” and “Resist Tyranny.”
“I’m here to protest the occupation of D.C.,” said Alex Laufer. “We’re opposing the authoritarian regime, and we need to get the federal police and the National Guard off our streets.”
Claiming that crime was blighting the city, Trump last month deployed the troops to “re-establish law, order, and public safety.” Trump also placed the capital district’s Metropolitan Police Department under direct federal control and sent federal law enforcement personnel, including members of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement to police the city’s streets.
But Justice Department data showed violent crime in 2024 hit a 30-year low in Washington, a self-governing federal district under the jurisdiction of the US Congress.
