The president increased federal law enforcement in Washington, D.C., and deployed the National Guard to the capital while citing violent crime despite city crime being at a three-decade low. Similar Guard deployments occurred in Los Angeles and are being considered for Chicago, with local officials opposing the presence. Historically, domestic National Guard deployments proceed with state and local approval. Observers cautioned that large-scale military or Guard presences in cities could resemble occupation tactics, erode civil liberties, and enable authoritarian governance under the guise of public safety. Past accounts about January 6 complicate narratives about command and responsibility.
In addition to surging the number of federal law enforcement officials on duty in Washington, D.C., Trump has deployed the National Guard to the nation's capital. He claims the measures are necessary to combat violent crime in the city, which is at a three-decade low. In June, the president sent the National Guard to Los Angeles, and is currently mulling doing so in Chicago as well. In each of the above cases, officials in charge said they do not want the guard in their cities.
You could put a soldier in every square mile and reduce this country to have zero crime, he said. I read the book 1984. That's what they did there. Is that what we wanna live in? Where you just occupy every city because of so-called crime? That is how dictators come to power. It's how authoritarians come to power, on the backs of that, of safety and security.
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