Washington Under Siege

khongjennifer07
Sep 25
3 min read

By Melvin Najarian. Sept. 24, 2025

Washington D.C., the capital of the nation, has become a city under siege. Federal agents in camouflage pattern uniforms patrol the avenues—a scene that President Donald Trump frames as an attempt to beautify the city but has instead unleashed fear.

On Aug. 11, Trump issued an executive order declaring a crime emergency in D.C. According to the order, Trump argued that D.C.’s high homicide and car theft rates prove that the city government has failed its role in maintaining public safety. Thus, Trump announced, poverty and crime in the capital can only be solved by sending in soldiers. In a Truth Social Post, Trump warned that he might have no alternatives but to place D.C. under federal control in order to ensure the city is run properly.

However, Trump’s remarks about the magnitude of the crime in D.C. contradict reality. According to the Department of Justice, D.C.’s overall crime rate in 2024 dropped by 35% since 2023 to the lowest rate in more than 30 years. Complementing the overall drop in crime, the city’s homicide rate has fallen by 32%, theft by 39% and armed assaults by 27%. The homeless have become a political scapegoat for high crime rates, when research has proven otherwise. Chuck Lanfear, a Cambridge University professor in criminology, has discovered little connection between encampments for the homeless in Seattle and the majority of the property crimes. What actually rose alongside property crime reports were complaints about homelessness

“Trump’s plan to expand law enforcement in D.C. is built on fear mongering and makes baseless accusations towards the homeless. Violent displacement is not a justifiable cost for beautifying a city. President Trump’s choice to spend taxpayer dollars on threatening citizens instead of supporting them is a clear display of his detached values,” Senior Advi Wehzan said.

Maintaining the National Guard in D.C. is costing taxpayers a huge sum of money, which is projected to reach about $201 million and average more than $1.8 million each day, as cited by USA Today. Beyond the financial burden on taxpayers, the executive order poses a legal conflict. According to the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, the military is limited in its interference in civilian law enforcement. This restriction means that the National Guard may enforce laws only to assist the police in maintaining order. Although the President has the authority to deploy the Guard in case of emergency or natural disaster, calling the Guard to address crime and homelessness changes its legal role from supporting the police to acting as law enforcement themselves. Furthermore, violent crime, which was the main reason for deploying Guards to D.C., is largely handled by either state or local government.

Since Trump’s executive order, nearly 2,300 National Guard troops have been mobilized. The deployment started with 800 soldiers dispatched from the D.C. National Guard. Thereafter, six Republican governors deployed their own troops from South Carolina, Ohio, Louisiana, Mississippi, West Virginia and Tennessee. Additionally, 120 FBI agents were assigned to patrol the streets of D.C. These groups have since made more than 1,178 arrests.

“The situation in D.C. only further proves Trump’s authoritarian tactics of bypassing both morality and the law to get his way. I only expect that this will become increasingly common in the future as Trump bends our nation to his will,” Junior Nile Rahman said.

The President stated on Aug. 22 that he will take this strategy further to highly populated cities in states such as New York and Chicago. In response, on Aug. 30, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, signed an executive order known as the Protecting Chicago Initiative, which directs Chicago police officers not to cooperate with federal troops if deployed to the city. On Sept. 15, Trump signed another executive order deploying National Guard troops into Memphis, Tennessee, though it is uncertain when they will arrive or how long they will stay for.

Now, citizens are calling for greater government transparency and accountability from local leaders. On Sept. 6 in D.C., several thousand protestors marched to demand an end to the Guard’s deployment. Chanting “Free D.C.,” the people demonstrated their determination to reclaim their city from federal overreach. From D.C. to Memphis, people continue to take their voices onto the streets and rise up to protect their rights and livelihoods.

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