ACLU-D.C. Statement on President Trump’s Deployment of National Guard and Federalization of D.C. Police

Without D.C. Statehood, D.C. remains vulnerable to this kind of dangerous political exploitation.

WASHINGTON — In response to the Trump administration’s announcement of federalizing the Metropolitan Police Department in the District of Columbia, please attribute the following statement to Monica Hopkins, Executive Director of the ACLU of the District of Columbia:

“Making D.C. the test case for federalizing local policing—by deploying the National Guard and seizing control of our police force—is political theater and a blatantly phony justification for abuse of emergency powers.

“The Trump administration’s decision to seize control of D.C.’s police force and deploy the National Guard is baseless political exploitation that could cause significant harm to D.C. residents and visitors. This act is about micromanaging D.C. to serve a political agenda of overreaching federal control. Crime is significantly down and does not rise to the level of an emergency. Violent crime is down and fell to 26% in the first seven months of 2025 after dropping 35% in 2024, and overall crime dropped 7%, according to the D.C. Police.

“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. That should alarm everyone, not just Washingtonians. 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. The president today said he would allow the police to ‘do whatever the hell they want,’ raising concerns of further civil rights abuses to come.

Without D.C. Statehood, D.C. remains vulnerable to this kind of dangerous political exploitation. However, this abuse of emergency powers and attack on our rights is a threat to our nation’s democracy.”