Congressional Black Caucus Statement on Trump Seizing Control of D.C. Police, Deploying National Guard

Congressional Black Caucus Statement on Trump Seizing Control of D.C. Police, Deploying National Guard

Today, Congressional Black Caucus Chair Yvette D. Clarke (NY-09) and members of the Congressional Black Caucus issued the following statement:

“President Trump does not care about keeping Washington, D.C., or any of our communities safe. His claims about crime in the District — where violent crime is now at a 30-year low — are patently false. On his first day in office, Trump granted pardons to nearly 1,500 individuals convicted of or charged in connection with the deadly January 6th Capitol attack, eliminating any credibility he has on the issue of public safety. Taking over local control of the D.C. Metropolitan Police and deploying the National Guard under the guise of public safety puts residents in danger. This unprecedented attack on D.C. home rule is a blatantly racist and despicable power grab, and it won’t stop in Washington, D.C.

“While we don’t yet know the full impact this decision will have on D.C. and the Black and minority communities Trump has suggested he may target next, we do know this: militarized over-policing will inevitably lead to increased fear and mistrust among communities that have too often been treated as occupied populations, rather than as citizens who deserve to be served and protected.

“It is clear that President Trump will do anything to distract from the crises plaguing his administration — from the Epstein files to the disastrous jobs report — including putting the residents of D.C. and the American people in harm’s way. Any and all failures that result from this dangerous overreach of power will fall squarely on his shoulders.

“The CBC will continue fighting to protect D.C.’s right to self-governance and we urge all Americans to recognize this for what it is: a test run for broader authoritarian overreach. The stakes are high not just for Washington, D.C., but for the future of democracy in every corner of this country.”

NJ ACTIVIST GROUPS CONDEMN TRUMP TAKEOVER OF WASHINGTON DC

Two activist organizations in New Jersey have condemned President Trump’s takeover of Washington DC. 

The People’s Organization For Progress (POP) and The Martin Luther King People’s Convention for Justice and Resistance (MLKPCJR) both condemned Trump’s announcement that he would be exercising greater federal control over the district. 

Yesterday Trump declared that National Guard troops would be deployed in the district and that there would be a federal takeover of one of the police forces there. 

“We stand in complete solidarity with the people of Washington DC who have expressed total opposition to National Guard troops being deployed in their city, and to the federal takeover of police in the district,” Lawrence Hamm, Chairman, People’s Organization For Progress stated.

Hamm said he was speaking on behalf of both groups. POP is a volunteer grassroots organization working for racial, social, and economic justice. The MLKPCJR is a coalition of 287 organizations that endorsed the convention which was held in April. 

“This was absolutely unnecessary and the reasons given by the president for doing so were spurious and unfounded. He said he was doing this because of a spike in crime when statistics show the opposite is true,” Hamm said. 

“This has absolutely nothing to do with crime and public safety and everything to do with the acquisition of greater power and control by the president. Obviously, being a political dictator is not enough. He wants to be a military dictator too,” he said. 

“The president seems to want to do a lot with the National guard these days. He sent them to Los Angeles when there was no need to do so. He’s bringing them to Washington when there is no need to do so,” he said. 

“However, when the Capitol was under violent attack by the January 6 rioters attempting to overthrow the government he waited hours to mobilize the guard when they were needed much earlier. This caused more people to be injured and killed ,” Hamm said. 

“This move by Trump may be calculated to distract public attention from his more pressing problems such as his unpopular domestic and foreign policies, the pain inflicted on working people by his cuts in social programs, billion dollar tax breaks for the rich, his declining poll numbers, and the Epstein files,” he said. 

“However, we believe there is more to it than that. This is yet another racist attack by Trump and his fascist MAGA movement on African Americans,” he said. 

The cities where he wants to send troops have majority or large black populations and most of them have black mayors. “Trump’s attack on Washington DC is an attack on black self-determination and black political power which are seen as obstacles by white supremacists to their apartheid agenda for the US,” Hamm said. 

“Home rule for Washington DC was something that African Americans fought very hard for. It is seen by many as a step along the path to statehood for the nation’s capital which black people and other DC residents have demanded for decades,” he said. 

“DC home rule is targeted for elimination in Project 2025. Republicans have introduced legislation to end home rule in the district,” he said.  

“Trump is trying to terrorize us into submission. We will not capitulate. We have faced troops before during our struggle for freedom and liberation. Troops or not we will continue to resist,” he said. 

“We want the troops out of Washington. We want control of the police returned to the district. We want statehood for Washington DC. We want an end to the Trump regime,” he said. 

For further information call the People’s Organization For Progress at 
(973)801-0001.

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Yup, I’m Muriel Bowser, mayor of Washington DC, the local politician who finally got thru to the reality star in the White House with the realities ($21.6M) of parades/events/demonstrations in Trump America (sad). https://t.co/vqC3d8FLqx

— MurielBowser (@MurielBowser) August 17, 2018

Town Council

Better late. Then: never.
Tanks but no tanks. pic.twitter.com/57WR28RMyU

— Council of DC (@councilofdc) August 17, 2018

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