A Dangerous Move
President Trump’s decision to send at least 800 National Guard troops into the streets of Washington to fight crime is the latest example of how the president has used the military to advance domestic policy priorities.
Though crime rates in the capital have been falling, Mr. Trump has said that they are “totally out of control” and has threatened a federal takeover.
Already this year, Mr. Trump has deployed some 10,000 active-duty troops to the southwest U.S. border to choke off the flow of drugs as well as migrants, and 4,700 National Guard troops and Marines to Los Angeles to help quell protests that had erupted over immigration raids and to protect the federal agents conducting them. All but about 250 of those National Guard troops have since been withdrawn.
The National Guard troops who will fan out across Washington starting this week will not perform law enforcement tasks, Pentagon officials said on Monday. Instead, 100 to 200 Guard soldiers at any given time will help with such tasks as logistics and transportation, while providing a “physical presence” in support of federal agents, the Army said in a statement.
But like the Guard in Los Angeles, the soldiers in Washington will probably be able to detain people temporarily in certain circumstances until federal agents arrive, officials said. The soldiers will be armed and authorized to defend themselves, military officials said.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, offered no details on how long the National Guard would be deployed in the capital. But he said they “will be strong, they will be tough and they will stand with their law enforcement partners.”
Unlike a state’s governor, the District of Columbia does not have control over its National Guard, giving the president broad leeway to deploy those troops.
The U.S. military responds quickly to executive directives. For that reason, it is a preferred institution for a president who presents himself as tough on crime, undocumented immigrants, drugs, “woke” culture and other perceived domestic enemies.
But in recent months that has put the military at the center of a series of partisan political issues, traditionally where its leaders in the past have least wanted to be.The military does not train for normal police beat-walking missions,
This is part of a pattern where the administration is using and appropriating military resources for nonmilitary domestic goals. Whether it’s immigration or going against drug cartels or crime in Washington, this administration sees the military as a one-size-fits-all solution to accomplishing its domestic political priorities.
Our military is trained to defend the nation from external threats and assist communities during disasters or emergencies, not to conduct day-to-day domestic policing. This deployment is a serious misuse of the National Guard’s time and talent.” They are being asked to threaten force against the people whose kids may go to school with them.
This is another step to our loss of freedom and we must mobilize against it!
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