Several thousand Washington DC residents on Saturday marched to demand US President Donald Trump end the deployment of National Guard troops patrolling the capital city’s streets.
Several thousand people took to the streets of Washington D.C. on Saturday, demanding that US President Donald Trump end the deployment of National Guard troops patrolling the capital.
The demonstration, held under the banner We Are All D.C., drew undocumented immigrants and pro-Palestinian supporters among others. Protesters carried placards reading Trump must go now, Free DC, and Resist Tyranny, while chanting slogans denouncing the president.
“I’m here to protest the occupation of D.C.,” said participant Alex Laufer. “We’re opposing the authoritarian regime, and we need to get the federal police and the National Guard off our streets.”
Trump ordered the deployment last month, citing rising crime and the need to “re-establish law, order, and public safety.” He also placed the city’s Metropolitan Police Department under direct federal authority and dispatched federal law enforcement personnel, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
However, Justice Department figures show violent crime in 2024 fell to its lowest level in three decades in Washington, a federal district governed by Congress.
The National Guard serves as a militia that answers to the governors of