The presence of armed military officers in the streets has put Washington on edge and spurred weeks of demonstrations, particularly in D.C. neighborhoods. Trump’s emergency declaration taking charge of D.C. police is set to expire on Wednesday.
Thousands of protesters marched across Washington, D.C., on Saturday in one of the largest demonstrations against President Donald Trump’s federal takeover of policing in the nation’s capital.
Behind a bright red banner reading “END THE D.C. OCCUPATION” in English and Spanish, protesters marched over two miles from Meridian Hill Park to Freedom Plaza near the White House to rail against the fourth week of National Guard troops and federal agents patrolling D.C.’s streets.
The “We Are All D.C.” protest — put together by local advocates of Home Rule and the American Civil Liberties Union — was perhaps the most organized demonstration yet against Trump’s federal intervention in Washington. The president justified the action last month as a way to address crime and homelessness in the city, even though city officials have noted that violent crime is lower than it was during Trump’s first term in office.
Trump targeted D.C. after deploying the National Guard to Los Angeles earlier this summer as the administration ramped up its immigration enforcement efforts and attempted to quell protests.
