DrWeb<p><strong>Trump’s DC police takeover echoes history of racist narratives about crime | AP News</strong></p><p>President Trump said he was declaring a public safety emergency, taking over the DC police and calling in National Guard troops to fight crime and tackle homelessness in the nation’s capital. Some DC residents are reacting. (AP Video: River Zhang)<a href="https://apnews.com/author/matt-brown" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a></p>President Donald Trump speaks with reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Aug. 11, 2025, in Washington, as Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, left, and Attorney General Pam Bondi look on. (AP Photo / Alex Brandon, File)<p>By <a href="https://apnews.com/author/matt-brown" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">MATT BROWN</a> Updated 8:30 AM PDT, August 12, 2025</p><p>▶ Follow live updates on <a href="https://apnews.com/live/donald-trump-news-updates-8-12-2025" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">President Donald Trump and his administration</a></p><p>WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-washington-crime-national-guard-homelessness-655bc22834223c7dc93115bbcb2b215c" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">has taken control</a> of D.C.’s law enforcement and ordered <a href="https://apnews.com/article/washington-dc-takeover-trump-mayor-crime-48b8c936a19531cacf6bfb75e2f32231" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">National Guard troops</a> to deploy onto the streets of the nation’s capital, arguing the extraordinary moves are necessary to curb an urgent public safety crisis.</p><p>Even as district officials <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-washington-crime-factcheck-violent-homelessness-db6f809a13800ccc1f4606bb9bf506a8" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">questioned the claims</a> underlying his emergency declaration, the Republican president promised a “historic action to rescue our nation’s capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor and worse.” His rhetoric echoed that used by conservatives going back decades who have denounced cities, especially those with majority non-white populations or led by progressives, as lawless or crime-ridden and in need of outside intervention.</p><p>“This is liberation day in D.C., and we’re going to take our capital back,” Trump promised Monday.</p><p><strong>Trump’s action echoes uncomfortable historical chapters</strong></p><p>As D.C. the National Guard <a href="https://apnews.com/article/washington-dc-takeover-trump-mayor-crime-48b8c936a19531cacf6bfb75e2f32231" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">arrived at their headquarters</a> Tuesday, for many residents, the prospect of federal troops surging into neighborhoods represented an alarming violation of local agency. To some, it echoes uncomfortable historical chapters when politicians used language to paint historically or predominantly Black cities and neighborhoods with racist narratives to shape public opinion and justify aggressive police action.</p><p>April Goggans, a longtime D.C. resident and grassroots organizer, said she was not surprised by Trump’s actions. Communities had been preparing for a potential federal crackdown in D.C. since the summer of 2020, when Trump deployed troops during racial justice protests after the <a href="https://apnews.com/hub/george-floyd" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">murder of George Floyd</a>.</p><p><a href="https://apnews.com/article/confederate-statue-removal-replacement-trump-culture-13ae94da5a9d652ba8a678d24bc9e7e8" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a>“We have to be vigilant,” said Goggans, who has coordinated local protests for nearly a decade. She worries about what a surge in law enforcement could mean for residents’ freedoms.</p><p>“Regardless of where you fall on the political scale, understand that this could be you, your children, your grandmother, your co-worker who are brutalized or have certain rights violated,” she said.</p><p>Other residents reacted with mixed feelings to Trump’s executive order. Crime and homelessness has been a top concern for residents in recent years, but opinions on how to solve the issue vary. And very few residents take Trump’s catastrophic view of life in D.C.</p><p>“I think Trump’s trying to help people, some people,” said Melvin Brown, a D.C. resident. “But as far as (him) trying to get (the) homeless out of this city, that ain’t going to work.”</p><p>“It’s like a band-aid to a gunshot wound,” said Melissa Velasquez, a commuter into D.C. “I feel like there’s been an increase of racial profiling and stuff, and so it’s concerning for individuals who are worried about how they might be perceived as they go about their day-to-day lives.”</p><p><strong>Uncertainty raises alarms</strong></p><p>According to White House officials, troops will be deployed to protect federal assets and facilitate a safe environment for law enforcement to make arrests. The Trump administration believes the highly visible presence of law enforcement will deter violent crime. It is unclear how the administration defines providing a safe environment for law enforcement to conduct arrests, raising alarm bells for some advocates.</p><p>“The president foreshadowed that if these heavy-handed tactics take root here, they will be rolled out to other majority-Black and Brown cities, like Chicago, Oakland and Baltimore, across the country,” said Monica Hopkins, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s D.C. chapter.</p><p>“We’ve seen before how federal control of the D.C. National Guard and police can lead to abuse, intimidation and civil rights violations — from military helicopters swooping over peaceful racial justice protesters in 2020 to the unchecked conduct of federal officers who remain shielded from full accountability,” Hopkins said.</p><p><a class="" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/2025/08/12/trumps-dc-police-takeover-echoes-history-of-racist-narratives-about-crime-ap-news/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Read more<span class="">: Trump’s DC police takeover echoes history of racist narratives about crime | AP News</span></a></p><p>Continue/Read Original Article Here: <em><a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-washington-dc-takeover-race-39388597bad7e70085079888fe7fb57b" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Trump’s DC police takeover echoes history of racist narratives about crime | AP News</a></em></p> <p>Original article: <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-washington-dc-takeover-race-39388597bad7e70085079888fe7fb57b" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">View source</a></p><p><a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/2025/" target="_blank">#2025</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/america/" target="_blank">#America</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/ap/" target="_blank">#AP</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/associated-press/" target="_blank">#AssociatedPress</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/dc-police/" target="_blank">#DCPolice</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/dc-police-takeover/" target="_blank">#DCPoliceTakeover</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/donald-trump/" target="_blank">#DonaldTrump</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/health/" target="_blank">#Health</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/history/" target="_blank">#History</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/libraries/" target="_blank">#Libraries</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/library-of-congress/" target="_blank">#LibraryOfCongress</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/never-trump/" target="_blank">#NeverTrump</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/politics/" target="_blank">#Politics</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/resistance/" target="_blank">#Resistance</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/science/" target="_blank">#Science</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/trump/" target="_blank">#Trump</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/trump-administration/" target="_blank">#TrumpAdministration</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/united-states/" target="_blank">#UnitedStates</a></p>