National Guard members patrolling Washington, DC began carrying service-issued weapons on the evening of August 24, 2025. Troops are authorised to use force only as a last resort and solely in response to an imminent threat of death or serious bodily harm. Unnamed officials said the National Guard would carry M17 pistols or M4 rifles. President Donald Trump asserted without evidence that there is no crime or murder in DC and suggested sending troops to Baltimore. Baltimore reported a double-digit reduction in gun violence in July and 84 homicides so far this year, the fewest in over 50 years. Thousands of National Guard and federal officers now patrol DC streets.
Starting the late evening of August 24, 2025, [Joint Task Force-DC] service members began carrying their service-issued weapon, the Joint Task Force-DC said in a statement. list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4list 2 of 4list 3 of 4list 4 of 4end of list The troops are only authorised to use force as a last resort and solely in response to an imminent threat of death or serious bodily harm, the statement said. Unnamed officials told the Reuters news agency that the National Guard would either carry M17 pistols or M4 rifles.
The announcement came as Trump claimed, without evidence, on Sunday that there is NO CRIME AND NO MURDER IN DC!, one week after he deployed troops there. In the same post on Truth Social, Trump said he might send in the troops' to neighbouring Baltimore, which he described as out of control and crime-ridden. However, according to the Baltimore police department, there was a double-digit reduction in gun violence in July compared with the previous year.
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