Above photo: Residents protest plans to deploy National Guard to Washington, D.C., Aug. 12, 2025.
It’s hard to keep track of all of the Trump administration’s many violations of people’s rights. But there’s one that workers and oppressed people need to pay particular attention to: Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops to occupy the Black and migrant communities in Washington, D.C., and his attempt to take over policing in that city.
Why is this important? Because it is a test case for martial law in urban, working-class areas where a large portion of the population is people of color — the case in D.C. despite the recent drop in the percentage of Black residents. This represents an effort to further ethnically cleanse D.C. — while the U.S. funds the ethnic cleansing that Israel is committing in Gaza and the West Bank.
What historic Black community is next if Black people are driven out of D.C., where many have already been forced out by gentrification? Where else will an “emergency” be manufactured, citing bogus claims around crime? Detroit? Harlem?
Moreover, if this test case proves successful for the ruling class, these repressive tactics could be used against any section of the working class or the progressive movement, from striking workers to anti-war protesters. Migrant communities throughout Los Angeles County face repression daily at the hands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the National Guard.
No meaningful victory
Don’t be fooled by claims in the capitalist media that supporters of home rule for the U.S. capital scored any meaningful victory regarding the agreement between the Department of Justice and D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb’s office. Drug Enforcement Administration Chief Terry Cole, who U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi chose as D.C.’s “emergency police chief,” was merely demoted to Bondi’s “designee.”
What power Cole has is unclear, but the order issued by Bondi still mandates that D.C. police “assist in immigration enforcement operations and to comply with database inquiries and requests for information from any federal law enforcement entity,” terminating sanctuary city status, according to NBC News. (Aug. 15)
Militarized agents of ICE are functioning like fascist stormtroopers. Schwalb, a Democrat, boasts that “Chief [Pamela] Smith remains in control of the police department under the supervision of our mayor,” with the takeover going forward. This shows how much the Democratic Party has capitulated to right-wing pressure.
As National Guard troops from multiple states occupy D.C., the city’s colonial status is once again clear. Its people pay the highest per capita taxes in the country, yet they have no voting representative in Congress.
As activists discuss building a united front against fascism and imperialism, one demand to mobilize around will be “stormtroopers out of D.C.” — or wherever they get sent to next.
