Thousands protest against Trump’s ‘occupation’ of DC

By Mike Pesoli and Farnoush Amiri Associated Press WASHINGTON 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 majority of 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 executives 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 The White House then turned to Washington which presented a unique opportunity for Trump to push his tough-on-crime agenda because of its subservient status to the federal establishment 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 Mark Fitzpatrick a former U S diplomat who has been a D C resident for around a decade communicated The Associated Press on Saturday that he s worried about the authoritarian nature in which the administration is treating D C Federal agents national guards patrolling our streets that s really an affront to the democracy of our city he announced adding that it s worse for D C residents due to their lack of federal representation We don t have our own senators or members of the House of Representatives so we re at the mercy of a dictator like this a wanna-be dictator Among the protesters Saturday were also former D C residents like Tammy Price who called the Trump administration s takeover evil and not for the people Jun Lee a printmaker artist living in Washington proved up with a Free DC sign that she made on a woodcut block She noted she came to the protest because she was saddened and heartbroken about the impact of the federal intervention on her city This is my home and I never ever thought all the stuff that I watched in a history documentary that I m authentically living in person and this is why this is critical for everyone this is our home we need to fight we need to resist she announced Related Articles Trump s former surgeon general calls for RFK Jr to be fired Postal traffic to US sank after Trump administration ended exemption on low-value parcels Trump s veterans housing plan in West L A advances behind a wall of secrecy RFK Jr s family members say he is a threat to Americans wellbeing and call for his resignation Maduro vows to defend Venezuela s sovereignty as tensions rise with US Also on Saturday Trump repeated threats to add Chicago to the list of other Democratic-led cities he wants to target for expanded federal enforcement His administration is set to step up immigration enforcement in Chicago similar to what took place in Los Angeles and deploy National Guard troops Like the District of Columbia Chicago s contemporary crime evidence does not reflect the war zones Trump has repeatedly compared it to Violent crime in Chicago dropped significantly in the first half of the year representing the steepest decline in over a decade according to city facts Shootings are down and homicides have dropped by while total violent crime dropped by over In response to Trump s threats Illinois Gov JB Pritzker a Democrat called the president a wannabe dictator who is threatening to go to war with an American city This is not a joke Pritzker wrote on X This is not normal Amiri released from New York