Hundreds of West Virginia National Guard members will be deployed across the nation’s capital as part of the Trump administration’s effort to overhaul policing in the District of Columbia through a federal crackdown on crime and homelessness.
Republican Governor Patrick Morrisey announced Saturday that he was sending a contingent of 300 to 400 members.
“West Virginia is proud to stand with President Trump in his effort to restore pride and beauty to our nation’s capital,” Morrisey said.
The move comes as federal agents and National Guard troops begin to appear across the heavily Democratic city after Trump’s executive order on Monday, federalising local police forces and activating about 800 DC National Guard troops.
By adding outside troops to join those already assigned to Washington, President Donald Trump is exercising even tighter control over the city. It’s a power play that the president has justified as an emergency response to crime and homelessness, even though district officials have noted that violent crime is lower than it was during Trump’s first term in office.
A protest against Trump’s intervention drew scores to Dupont Circle on Saturday afternoon before a march to the White House, about 1.5 miles away. Demonstrators assembled behind a banner that said “No fascist takeover of DC”, and some in the crowd held signs that said “No military occupation”. Trump was at his Virginia golf club after Friday’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska.
US President Donald Trump boards Air Force One following his meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin – Kevin Lamarque/REUTERS
Morgan Taylor, one of the organisers who coordinated Saturday’s protest, said they were hoping to spark enough backlash to Trump’s actions that the administration would be forced to pull back on its crime and immigration agenda.
“It’s hot, but I’m glad to be here. It’s good to see all these people out here,” she said. “I can’t believe that this is happening in this country at this time.”
She added, “Any act of getting in the streets, any act of making noise, any act of showing a sense of community, taking care of one another, is an act of resistance.”
The West Virginia activation also suggests the administration sees the need for additional manpower, after the president personally played down the need for Washington to hire more police officers.
Maj Gen James Seward, West Virginia’s adjutant general, said in a statement that members of the state’s National Guard “stand ready to support our partners in the National Capital Region” and that the Guard’s “unique capabilities and preparedness make it an invaluable partner in this important undertaking”.
Federal agents have appeared in some of the city’s most highly trafficked neighbourhoods, garnering a mix of praise, pushback and alarm from local residents and leaders across the country.
Protesters outside the White House – Alex Brandon/AP
City leaders, who are obliged to cooperate with the president’s order under the federal laws that direct the district’s local governance, have sought to work with the administration, though they have bristled at the scope of the president’s takeover.
On Friday, the administration reversed course on an order that aimed to place the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration as an “emergency police commissioner” after the district’s top lawyer sued to contest. After a court hearing, Trump’s attorney general, Pam Bondi, issued a memo that directed the Metropolitan Police Department to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement regardless of any city law.
District officials say they are evaluating how to best comply.
In his order on Monday, Trump declared an emergency due to the “city government’s failure to maintain public order”. He said that impeded the “federal government’s ability to operate efficiently to address the nation’s broader interests without fear of our workers being subjected to rampant violence”.
In a letter to city residents, Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, wrote that “our limited self-government has never faced the type of test we are facing right now”. She added that if Washingtonians stick together, “we will show the entire nation what it looks like to fight for American democracy — even when we don’t have full access to it”.
